One Hell of a Shitshow
by idontlikebreadcrusts
Summary: The Seven Deadly Sins. Every century they hold a tournament in hell to determine which sin will be leader for the next century. Of course Naruto gets dragged into it. Posted also on AO3 so go there to read my notes and what not. Warning: Yaoi Fic, Gaara/Naruto pairing, Mentions of abuse, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, recreational drug use and panic attacks. Also sad feels and shit.
1. Chapter 1

"Of course…."

Shoulders sagged as the blonde stared at the mess before him, momentarily wallowing in yet another stroke of bad luck. The plastic five pound bag of tea now lay empty on the floor half buried in the chai herbs, piled on the grody shop tile. The store employee picked up a large handful of the tea leaves and angrily tossed it at the counter letting the small tantrum slip. He was thankful that there were no customers present. His usual cheerful demeanor was absent, today was not his day.

He shook his fists at the ceiling in frustration, head tossed back in a disgruntled groan as he grumbled incoherently "... woke up late…. missed my fucking train…..haul ass to make it on time…failed my midterm...started raining…...forgot an umbrella…...work a double shift tonight…"

He wiped his hands on his work apron, catching himself before he could continue the fit of rage. _What the fuck dude._ The inward scold came as he realized what he was doing. He scrubbed a hand over his face and tried to calm himself. Naruto refused to have a mental breakdown over spilled tea. _Breathe._ He inhaled, letting the scent of cinnamon and cardamom fill his lungs momentarily before exhaling and mentally telling himself to get a grip. _Keep it together, Naruto._ The man turned and pulled a few remaining tins off the shelf to check if they needed refilling, ignoring the obvious mess for the moment. He was working with Sasuke today and he needed to be civil at least. He definitely refused to give the other man the satisfaction of witnessing an emotional outburst.

"Mortal, you dare summon my name in cinnamon and black pepper?" a brooding voice asked with a clipped tone.

"Goddamn it. Why the fuck would I summon anything with chai?" The young man snapped back before he could stop himself. Naruto glanced back to see a fuming dark figure before him and raised his eyebrows in question realizing it wasn't his ex, Sasuke, talking to him.

The sales associate set eyes on the seemingly tall human being before him. "My bad, you sound exactly like someone I know." Long dark hair pulled back into a low pony tail and sleek business suit stood at the end of the counter, hidden by a pair of dark designer sunglasses. He hadn't been there just a moment before, it slightly startled Naruto.

The dark figure scoffed as he tapped his fingers in annoyance against the marble top counter. "What businesses do you have with me?"

"In my defense you guys do sound a lot alike..." The blond shrugged as he placed a tin full of tea leaves back in its place. _Oh great another crazy customer_. He mentally groaned at the thought. Normally life was pretty bearable, but given the return of his ex into his life and with this past midterm exams and impending tests, Naruto was a stressful mess. If he could avoid the extra frustrations from annoying customers that would be great… but of course life didn't work that way, and Naruto knew this all too well.

"So uhh... You gonna buy some tea or...?" He absently questioned as he slid another large tin back onto its shelf trying to distract himself from his lingering thoughts.

"No. I did not come from the depths of hell to purchase bags of herbs and spices, besides you summoned me. I have urgent dark matters to tend to so state your business." Pride gave an almost bored response and check his watch with flick of annoyance.

The young man sighed, obviously frustrated with his day. He couldn't deal with this right now. "Geez you even whine like Sasuke. You sure you guys aren't related?" He grabbed the lopsided broom that stood against the wall with the intent of sweeping up the mess of leaves on the floor. "I don't understand what you're talking about. I didn't summon you. I don't summon any of the crazy customers I encounter. I just sell tea."

Naruto just wanted to go for a run already and clear his mind. His day so far was becoming particularly annoying. This second job was shit. He had resulted to working at a local tea shop, anything to make ends meet. Paying for school out of pocket was a bust, so paying back loans was plan b. It was tough but it was better than giving up on school and resorting to being stuck working odd jobs for the rest of his adult life. He only got this job again because Sasuke was able to put in a good word for him. Of course they had still been together seven months ago when he had started working, but now that they had broken up again, for the third and final time, the very last thing that made working here endurable had fallen away.

Pride regarded the young man across the counter. He hadn't been summoned by a mortal in over five centuries. He knew the younger Uchiha as well it seemed. Who exactly was this person who was able to call him from the depths of hell? He scanned over the physical appearance, twenty years, probably a student, although his aura was tinged red. Odd, most mortals varied on shades of gray, regardless he lacked a true dark aura. The deadly sin noted the strange color of the young man's essence for a later time. He continued his observation, the mortal was of an athletic build and had a decent intellect but nothing to brag about. Unfortunately, he no doubt was someone who couldn't wrap his head around the idea of other realms and had disbelief in the supernatural. Great, the commander of the deadly sins, summoned by someone who didn't believe in demons. _What a fucking joke_. Pride gave a displeased glare behind his dark demon couldn't understand why someone like him was able to summon a Seven Sin of hell with ease. It should be near impossible. Of course he had been summoned in the middle of a meeting with Baal, had a meeting with the Leviathan in twenty minutes and then dinner with the Fates before the ceremony tonight. He didn't have time for this nonsense.

"Are you just gonna stare at me till your eyeballs bleed out or what? I know I'm attractive, but I'm not really interested." the mortal droned sarcastically.

 _The cocky son of a bitch,_ Pride frowned. This was getting bothersome, he had to get back to hell soon. The devil shifted so he was leaning his back on the counter staring out at the heathens as they passed, he needed a moment to think of his plan of action for getting back to hell as quickly as possible. His eyes narrowed as he watched the humans through the large front windows, as usual most had gray hues that clouded them, some were a dark charcoal color. Pride smiled, those were his favorite mortals to entice as they were so close to being damned. Just as a smirk played at the sins lips a woman appeared with a deeply ashy aura, balancing her phone between her cheek and shoulder as she pushed her stroller into the store.

"Ok, I'll call you back later." The mother grunted as she tossed her phone into her purse and walked up to the tea sample. "What tea is this?" She sloshed the scalding sample in her hand, spilling some on her gaudy blouse. She didn't bother to clean it up, and tapped her foot with obvious impatience.

"The sign on the dispenser says it's a mix of jasmine and green tea..." Naruto stated bluntly. God he was so tired of customers and their idiotic questions, did they not hear themselves when they speak? All the information about the product was on the label in front of their faces. _Why can't they just fucking read_? His pent up aggression was at its limit with these morons. He knew it was a matter of time before he couldn't keep his patience and snapped.

"Oh my god it's hot!" The customer dropped the sample cup onto the floor and stuck her tongue out to fan it, like it would help any. She moved further into the store, not giving the liquid she spilt a second glance.

"Yeah, the sign right there says 'our teas are hot'." The young man scoffed as he set the broom down and pointedly glared at the mess she had made. _I'm not a fucking janitor,_ he mentally shouted _._ People were so messy. Even after his mom had passed he always remembered how adamant she was about Naruto cleaning up if he made a mess. The thought of his mother pulled at his heart. He shook his head, as if trying to clear it and returned his attention to the dark figure who was now speaking.

"You don't expect idiots to actually read before they greedily shove things in their mouths now do you? You could be serving poison and have it written in neon lights and they would still gladly drink it because it's free." He regarded the child in the stroller and sneered. Naruto caught his breath and waited for the customer to begin attacking with an onslaught of insults, but it never came.

"Hello!? Are you even listening to me? I want a pound of this tea." She snapped her fingers at the employee

Pride crossed his arms, shifted his weight onto one foot and pressed the other one back to rest against the counter."She can't even afford a decent taste in clothing, trust me, she can't afford a pound of quality tea."

"Umm... O- Okay?" It came out like a question, confused that she would let someone talk to her that way and ignore it. Naruto dragged down the teas and began to weigh them out separately. He scanned the price tags and looked up at the customer "That'll be $127.45. Anything else I can get for you?"

"For tea? Like hell I'm paying that much. I just want like five dollars." She snorted and pushed her stroller out of the way so she was leaning over the counter. The child in the stroller caught sight of the dark figure leaning beside his mother and burst out into tears. The mother ignored it.

"Typical. Mother of the year award goes to this one." Pride grumbled. "Oh would you shut the hell up already, you're giving me a headache. Damned mortals." The child only screamed louder, adding to the employee's confusion and frustration.

"I can't sell you five dollars worth of tea. The minimum is four ounces and it's twenty bucks."

The woman whined. "Damn, expensive ass tea. You can't just give me like one ounce?"

"The minimum is four ounces and it's twenty dollars." The blond repeated himself like a broken record, his face blank, hiding all his contempt.

"Never mind then." She grabbed her stroller and strutted out of the store, oblivious to the fact her child was screaming bloody murder.

He poured the unsold tea back into its proper tins utterly confused by the interaction that just happened. "I wish I could get away with calling people out like that."

"Oh believe me, I wish she could see and hear me." The sin grunted and turned his attention to inspecting his fingernails.

Convinced he misheard the tall man, he looked over at him out of curiosity. "Umm.. what?"

"She couldn't see me. You are the one who summoned me so you are the only mortal who can see or hear me. Well, the only one above the age of three that is. Lucky you." He gave the young man a devilish grin. "So, about our deal. What can I do for you?" Pride turned back around to look at his summoner, amused at his confusion.

"Deal? Uhh...sorry. I don't really do drugs." Although, he was beginning to question his sanity by this point. He shook his head and hoped that this asshole would just leave him alone.

"Not that type of deal. You summoned a demon, a deadly sin of hell no less. We can't leave without a deal being made. So let's do business. What do you desire? Revenge? Money? Love? Knowledge? I can give it to you. Just name it. It'll be yours in exchange for a small token of course." The devil drummed his fingers along the lids of the metal tins left displayed across the counter.

At a loss for words Naruto silently began to clean up the customers mess and thought about what he should do. He never had to deal with this kind of crazy before. This guy was either higher than a kite or a legit nut job. He probably belonged in a mental institution somewhere. Should he call someone? He weighed his options before deciding that maybe the police would best take care of this one.

"Excuse me for a moment." He snatched his phone and began dialing the number before something caught his eye in his peripheral vision that made him stop cold. He froze, not wanting to move and witness what he thought he had seen. _This is ridiculous, there is no way in hell. Right?_ He slowly raised his head and met the eyes of the man before him. Sure enough swishing around behind the man was a tail. Long, black and pointy tipped, slithering through the air.

"People usually have a hard time believing I'm real. It's understandable. Your mortal minds can't possibly conceive that there are multiple realms at which other beings are at work, and that all realms connect in some way and influence each other somehow." The devil nonchalantly shrugged and tilted his head showing off a better view of what had grown out of it. Horns. Two of them. Straight out of his head. Naruto blinked his eyes a few times and violently shook his head trying to comprehend what he was witnessing. He tried to speak, but when he opened his mouth nothing came out. The employee just stood there, staring with his mouth slightly hanging open.

"Take your time. It's quite alright. Let me know when you're done gawking." The devil turned back around and leaned against the counter once more.

"I think I may need to lay down for a bit." He managed to mumble before pushing himself to lean back against the wall behind him. It was exhaustion _._ It had to be, unless he had lost his mind. In which case was really bad. He had to go see a doctor now, make sure he hadn't been seeing things this whole time thinking they were real. His heart dropped to his stomach for a brief second. No, he was overreacting. He came to the conclusion that he was either dreaming or hallucinating from exhaustion.

"Yes, yes. Take a nap. When you wake up, I'll still be here. What will you tell yourself then?" the tall figure shrugged and began walking around the store pretending to find interest in the tea sets on display.

The blonde furrowed his brow staring at the phone in his hand unsure of what exactly was going on. "I-" Naruto managed to get out before being interrupted.

"You look really concerned." Another similar dark brooding figure walked through the entrance to the store. He slipped off the dark leather messenger bag that hung from his side as he walked up to the counter and set his items down.

"Ahh, A man after my own heart." A smile spread across the sins face. He was genuinely pleased at the sight of the man that just walked into the shop.

"Sasuke…" Naruto snapped out of his confused haze at the voice of his ex-boyfriend.

"You ok?"

"The concern for others is a bit unbecoming albeit charming considering the state of your soul." The demon noted out loud almost to himself. It had been a good while since he personally checked up on Sasuke. Though he would never admit it, he was somewhat glad for the chance to see him.

"Umm… I'm gonna go home. I don't feel too good. Tell the manager I'm sorry I couldn't stay for the my whole shift. I'll see you later." the blond stated almost absently, clocked out and bolted from the store without a second thought. The devil watched him go with a sigh. Something told him this was going to be a long night.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sasuke frowned as he clocked in, not even glancing over at the man in the suit.

"Why, I came to see you." He mocked and flashed a smile.

"Don't bullshit me. What did you do to Naruto? You promised not to get involved in my personal life anymore." The raven haired man argued, his temper was short today, as per usual.

"You've gotten soft I see. Relax, I didn't intentionally come to fuck you over this time. Believe it or not he summoned me." The tall man mused as he gestured over to his sigil in the chai still left on the counter.

"Just leave him alone." A pale hand angrily wiped the leaves off the surface and tossed it to the floor. Sasuke had enough shit thrown at his relationship with the blonde to know it wasn't going to be worth working out, but that didn't mean he was ok with outside interference from his family. He had done so well these past twenty one years of life without being dragged into the "family business". He wanted to keep it that way, especially if it meant keeping the few people he somewhat cared about, like Naruto, out of it.

The devil checked his watch and began making his way to the door. "You know how these things work Sasuke. I can't part from him without a deal from the summoner. Believe me there are other things I'd rather be doing. I'll go easy on him, for your sake and because of my promise to not interfere anymore." He said in a serious tone before exiting the store and disappearing into the crowd of people.

He crossed his arms and scowled in disapproval as he watched his older brother walk out the store and follow Naruto. His intuition was screaming danger at him. This was not going to end well.

The low light of the lamp cast shadows across the small room. Naruto stirred from his sleep and rolled over peeking one eye open to check the time on the clock at his nightstand. He had slept for four hours. Why did he still feel so exhausted? He shut his eyes again and lay in silence recalling his dream. A small smile spread across his face, stupid Sasuke and his talk about demons. That old conversation had him dreaming about summoning a devil with tea leaves. He pulled the covers higher up to cover his shoulders and sighed, relieved. _Just a dream._ A voice through the door made him freeze. So much for his relief. He listened hoping it was his roommates on the other side of that wall.

"My apologies Levi, I know we were supposed to meet today but I had something unexpected come up-…..I realize it's tonight but it can't be helped-…Would you like to come deal with this then?!-... I'll be back in time tonight for it don't worry, just make sure everything goes according to plan. And tell the fates I most likely won't be joining them this evening. Who knows how long this will take."

Naruto buried his face into his blankets.

 _This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real…_

"Tell yourself that all you want but it won't make me go away."The tall dark figure sat at the edge of the bed, legs crossed, staring at the variety of 80's posters on the walls. He twirled his sunglasses in his hand as he turned to look at the mortal. He was becoming impatient, and getting nowhere with this approach.

"I'll call the police! Get away from me!" Naruto shouted as he jumped to the floor and made a dash for the door.

The devil sighed and in one swift movement blocked the door before the young man could reach it. He was going to have to just take this kid along with him until he could make a deal. It was risky though, mortals were not allowed into hell outside of death without justification. Would this be a just enough cause? Then there was the whole chance that he would not return as a sane mortal either. He could become possessed, eaten, burned, tormented. He would definitely become a mental case if he returned in one piece that is, but he couldn't stay here much longer without things in his realm, well, going to hell. Sasuke would be furious. Pride paused and thought as Naruto began trying to swing punches at the demon blocking his doorway. The devil easily blocked them all. He caught the blonde by the wrist and tightened his grip.

"You are making me lose my train of thought! Just sit still while I think." He tossed the mortal to the bed absently, but the power of that mere toss caused Naruto to crash full on into the wall. Sheet rock and plaster rained onto the bed in pieces along with his body. He gasped for air, the hit left him winded and with a few bruised ribs.

"Alright, that's the plan. I think I can risk it. My relations with Sasuke are shot regardless, so that outcome doesn't concern me. As long as you are back in one piece, which I think I can manage, it'll be fine." He snapped his fingers and a large antique dagger appeared in his hand. The devil gave a sideways glance at the clueless man petrified on the bed. "Oh calm your shit, I'm not going to kill you. I'm just gonna drag you to hell."

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck…." The blonde panicked as he watch the insane man smirk and slice his finger with the blade before letting it vanish. Naruto gasped and his eyes began to water at the thought of his death by lunatic murderer. He grasped at his aching side and inched himself as far from the devil as possible. _This is the worst day ever,_ his mental commentary cried out not making the situation any better.

"Ok, ok. Bad joke to make. Puns are Shisui's area anyway. " The devil waved absently and humored himself before setting a deceivingly charming smile on his face. He got to work and smudged his blood onto the picture of Def Leppard that clung to the wall, creating an unknown sigil before backing up and nodding in approval of his work. He turned to his summoner and gestured his bloody finger to the man on the bed.

"Here."

"What am I supposed to do with that?" The mortal cringed as the black blood dripped onto his floor. Naruto readied himself to fight back if need be.

"Drink it. You won't survive a second in my dimension without drinking a demon's blood. Come now, it's not everyday a Deadly Sin of Hell offers his blood to a mere mortal. You should be honored." Pride rolled his eyes as the mortal looked in disgust at the mention of drinking blood. "I figured I'd have to force you."

The devil pounced on Naruto with inhuman speed, his uncut hand at his chest, pinning him to the bed with his weight. The mortal threw a punch that caught the sin by surprise as it collided with his stomach. The fell to the floor with a thump, wrestling for the upper hand. Finally Pride caught the man by the throat and watched him gasp for air as the devil took the opportunity and raised his free hand to allow a small trickle of his blood into the human's mouth. Naruto choked, feeling it hit the back of this tongue and roll down the back of his tongue. The demon stood and adjusted his suit, obviously peeved that he had to get it wrinkled. The blonde rolled onto his stomach, coughing from the ingestion of demon blood, his stomach churned as he felt the sharp sting down his throat, like knives ripping at his insides.

"Now then, there are a few rules you will need to keep in mind." The sin stood again in the middle of the room facing his marking on the wall. He stuck his sliced finger in his mouth briefly as he thought. "Nobody can know you are mortal, if they find out I can't guarantee that you will return to this realm. My blood will mask your human aura and render you invisible for the most part but if you attract too much attention to yourself they'll see you." He glanced over at to find the human still gagging on the floor. "Pay attention this is important!" Pride snapped

"What if I don't want to go with you?" Naruto choked out before his body involuntarily forced him to vomit. Blood and bile pooled on the dingy carpet as the mortal finished heaving.

"Well if you'd just make a deal with me already we could have avoided all this but I am already running late and I don't have any more patience to deal with these things so you are taking a little field trip with me to a hostile realm until I can bring you back and settle things. Hopefully you didn't throw up all the blood." The devil motioned for Naruto to stand. "Don't make me force you again." His eyes flashed red and the human jumped to his feet.

"You summoned me, unknowingly, however the rules still stand. We cannot part from each other for too long without a deal being made. As much as I'd like to, we'd both turn to ash if we did." Naruto held back his desire to panic and fall apart and crossed his arms in an attempt to still his nervous shaking as he watched the demonic form pace his room while he spoke.

"This is just a quick fix, I'll have you back before you know it and we'll make a deal and you'll be out of my horns. Just lay low, stick to my side and don't make any eye contact with anyone. There are limits to what I can do to protect you from other demons. Just remember that." Pride turned to make sure the human was listening. "Now, don't be a pain in the ass, put on some shoes and follow closely."

He watched the mortal reluctantly slide into some dirty old sneakers as he stood before his blood sigil and touched it with his now healed finger. _"Aperta Regni Inferos"_ A large red portal opened up where the poster once was. The mortals heart dropped to his stomach.

"Fuck that, dude." He shook his head, eyes widened in fear and began to back away.

"Shall we?" Pride forcefully grabbed Naruto by the shoulder and pushed him through the swirling portal of doom.

"Naruto?" Sasuke knocked again, only to be greeted by silence.

Nobody was home. He pulled out his phone and called for the 5th time. Straight to voicemail, again. He frowned down at the screen in his hands. He knew the blonde had work later on but his next shift wasn't until 11pm, doing overnight stock at a local grocery store. _He should be home_. He checked his various chats that included his ex-boyfriend but he hadn't been active in them since that morning. He called some co workers that were mutual friends with Naruto but they hadn't heard from him either, his text messages were unanswered as well. Normally Sasuke wasn't the type of person to check in on people, or call multiple times and leave text messages asking where the hell they went, but that run in earlier with the demon that followed Naruto out of the store left him distraught. He knew what the sin was capable of and it left the raven haired man agonizing over the situation.

The chances that a demon of a brother had something to do with the disappearance of the blonde was highly likely at this point. His head spun with worry at all the things that could be happening to Naruto at the present moment. His secret was spilled, that was for sure, damned devil couldn't keep himself out of Sasuke's business. He sighed, there was no way around it. He concentrated and let that part of his psyche he worked so hard to hide and push away take over. He felt his senses become sharper and inhaled the familiar smell of blood through the door. Demon blood. He glanced around to make sure there was no onlookers before grabbing at the locked door handle. Murmuring some latin gibberish under his breath letting the door swing open as it unlocked.

He silently stepped into the apartment his ex shared with a few other roommates. Everyone was out, either working or in evening class. He wandered through the living room and down the small familiar hallway. The halfling had been over many times before, just to spend time with the blonde. Either to study, watch a movie or even have dinner with his obnoxiously loud roommates, Sasuke tolerated them because he enjoyed the company of Naruto. For all the bickering and competitive energy that flowed between them, he truly felt he had found someone who understood him on a level that not many others did. So why did he feel guilty for always declining Naruto's obvious implications when he invited him to spend the night? Why couldn't he just tell him, 'I think I have the capability of loving you but I don't want to have sex with you ever' instead of freaking out and abruptly leaving whenever Naruto tried to kiss him and move things along? Why did it kill him to hear Naruto apologize over and over again for pressuring physical contact between them without asking, when he knew it was only normal for the man to crave some sort of physical intimacy from a boyfriend?

The Uchiha stopped as he approached his ex's bedroom following the scent of the blood, and let his hand hover over the doorknob. Naruto had seemed content with their stance for the most part, Sasuke was the one always afraid of becoming too attached so he would purposely initiate the break ups. He let his memories of their most recent falling out play in his head.

 _"Look, I understand you aren't comfortable with it but I wish you would just talk to me. I'm tired of playing this guessing game of what's going on with you. I don't want to seem insensitive or pry into your personal reasoning but I can't help feel like it's because I'm not good enough for you. You always shut me out." Naruto sat on his bed with his head in his hands, eyes beginning to water._

 _"I just can't do this right now, ok? Leave it alone." Sasuke played off a cold demeanor despite his insides screaming at him in panic to abort the situation. He was already standing and moving for the door._

 _"I am willing to try and work through whatever this is. Please don't walk away from me." The blonde grabbed his boyfriend by the wrist pleading for him to stay._

 _The Uchiha jerked his hand back and opened the door, eager for an escape from confronting his emotion. "I said leave it alone."_

He ran, too scared to open up and deal with his personal demons. He wasn't ready to figure out what was wrong with him so he left everything behind and hid in Canada for six months, ignoring the calls and messages from Naruto. He convinced himself wasn't ready to face it just yet, then he realized he was just too afraid. Despite his cold and indifferent demeanor he showed to the public, he knew that this was just another part of himself he was scared to embrace. So he finally came to terms with it, tired of running and avoiding who he was, he used that time to think it through and find himself during those six months away. Now he was back, he knew he owed Naruto an apology and explanation in the least. But the blonde was avoiding him like the plague, obviously upset with his abrupt return into his life after abandoning him without any word. He shook the thoughts from his head, steadying himself for whatever was behind the door.

The stench sharply hit him as he pushed the door open, the room reeked of it. Sasuke pulled his t-shirt collar up over his nose as he looked around. There were signs of a struggle, and a dent in the wall. His eyes fell to scan the blood dripped along the floor and puddle of vomit before they settled on the burnt looking sigil on the wall, pieces of the Def Leppard poster scattered all over the tile. He gazed in disbelief at what this meant. Naruto had been taken to hell.

"Fuck."


	2. Chapter 2

"Uhhh.. I figured there would be more, I dunno, sulfur and hellfire maybe…?" Naruto gaped at the large skyscrapers and the demons in sharp suits rushing back and forth along the paved sidewalks, avoiding the trams and trolleys that zoomed past.

"A common misconception." Pride absently responded.

It felt like he had been sent through a portal to wall street not the netherworld. The massive buildings had no end as they towered over him. The monsters, if you could call them that, were all too busy walking and talking on their phones to notice the two that had just stepped through the raging portal. He would have mistaken them all for humans with the exception of the various demon eyes hidden behind dark glasses that didn't even glance his way. His momentary awe was soon replaced with panic. What just happened?

"Come, Keep up." The devil began to walk down the steps, off the platform and onto the sidewalk. The mortal scurried behind him. He turned back to see the station he just left. Six large platforms stood with massive portals behind, each one a different color.

"Those are the gateways to and from hell. The three on the left will take you out of hell the three on the right is where you return to hell via any portal. If something happens and I tell you to leave this realm take the gray portal to the very left out. That one will take you back to your dimension."  
The sin began walking again picking up his pace and checking his watch.

"What happens if I take one of the other two portals? Does one lead to heaven or something?" Naruto mused as he rushed after his guide.

"Well demons got kicked out of heaven so, no. Public portals from hell can't take you there." He laughed at the question. "Besides compared to heaven we are actually the civil ones. Take my word for it, heaven isn't as enchanting as everyone tries to make it. Just trust me, you don't need to know where the other portals lead." He made a turn into a sleek building, as the doorman pushed open the set of dark glass doors which read 'Pride Inc.', and strode past an expensive looking lobby. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings and rich velvet chairs adorned the sitting area. Itachi's shoes echoed off the marble floor as he approached the receptionists.

He beckoned for her to follow him as he passed. "Ino my dear, cancel my afternoon meeting with the fates. Ask if they can reschedule for the weekend."

"Yes, Commander." One of the two tall attractive woman responded from behind the desk before grabbing a binder and following her boss towards the elevators.

"Keep quiet." Pride whispered and motioned Naruto into the corner of the small space and held the door open for his secretary to catch up.

The succubus read off her list as the elevator ascended to the top floor."Your husband called for you, and the Leviathan wants to know if you are able to meet informally this evening, said it was important. Baal also expressed some discontent that you vanished during his meeting."

"Ah, apologize to Baal for me. It was an unavoidable emergency… We can reschedule at his convenience." The devil rolled his eyes.

"Yes sir" the receptionist noted it on her list. Naruto watched her tuck a lock of long hair back behind her ear. The woman seemed normal enough except for the fact that Naruto had an overwhelming urge to kiss her at the current moment. This can't be happening… He took in a deep breath and forced himself to stare at the ceiling. She had to be a special kind of demon, he usually had a much better control on his physical desires. Please let this all be one crazy dream. The elevator stopped and let them out at the top floor. The succubus led the way into a sleek dark office. A long glass top desk stood at the far end of the room accompanied by a set of chairs, one which now was occupied by the secretary. The devil entered and drifted to the floor to ceiling window that provided a gracious view of the busy city. He stared out at the skyline before turning back around and addressing the lady in the chair.

"Let Levi know I can meet briefly before the opening ceremony, I'm sure he's freaking out. How are the preparations for tonight?"

Naruto had slipped into the office as the two talked. He angled himself into a corner against a row of bookshelves and stared at his hands. What the hell? He allowed his thoughts to catch up with him, still partially in disbelief that he wasn't still dreaming. He winced at the pain in his side as he breathed heavily. Nope, not dreaming. The blow from being knocked into a wall earlier left him sore and bruised for sure.

"Will your brother be joining the festivities this time?" Ino asked as she jotted down something in her binder.

Pride absently stared out the window. "I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.". A thought crossed his mind as he turned abruptly to his secretary with a large wicked smile on his face. "Then again, he may feel compelled to join us this time around. Make preparations for him just in case, and tell my husband I'll meet him at the arena." The demon took a side glance at Naruto who was still curled up hiding in a corner of the office slightly rocking himself, obviously still in shock. This would be the perfect reason for the long lost brother of the deadly sin of Pride to return.

"Shall I inform your husband of a chance for your brothers arrival?"

"Yes, but be discreet about all of this. You know how Madara is dying to get his hands on him." Pride shot a knowing look at the succubus. The receptionist nodded seriously. She had known the Sins brother since they were children, despite his constant rejections for her affections she could never make a move that would put him in danger. Itachi knew this as well.

"That will be all Ino." He dismissed his secretary and turned back to face the window. There was a few moments of silence after she had taken her leave. Naruto peeked up at the dark figure wondering if he would ever be able to get back home.

"Come, mortal. Take in the view of hell. You may be one of the few who sees it and lives." He mused as the man shuffled over to the window.

"Not what I expected, I'll admit." Naruto had his false bravado up. His smiles and jokes were always a cover for his anxieties. Right now he was on the verge of a mental breakdown but he resisted the urge to jump out the window.

The view was that of an enormous metropolis, dark sleek buildings and narrow sidewalks with crowds of people bustling through. Advertisements for various products he had never heard of before shown on billboards and on sides of buildings. The clean streets lined with twisted trees and sleek vehicles made everything look almost like earth, except it was too clean. No where on the face of the earth would such a large city be this clean. Naruto sighed to himself as he gave the demon a side glance.

"Where do you think mortals got their ideas and inspirations for society from? Demons have been whispering in their ears and manipulating the human race for millions of years."

"So home is like a mini version of hell, makes sense." Naruto nodded, thinking back to how much he really hated his life, but how he'd now give anything to be back on earth dealing with it right this moment. He had just begun to pull his life together, he was so close to graduating, and he finally had a place and roommates he enjoyed coming home to. He had friends that valued him and didn't see him as broken or pity him for what he had gone through. They'd panic when they realized he was missing, it's not like Naruto to leave without a note of some kind. His heart sunk to his stomach at the thought.

"Well of course we aren't the only ones that like to create extra trouble sometimes for mortal societies and whatnot. Honestly if it was just us, you'd live in a utopian setting for the most part." Pride frowned as he stared off in the distance letting that last remark hang in the air.

"Your secretary, what was she? And what happened to your horns and tail?" the mortal inquired.

"A succubus, it's a particular demon that feeds of sexual energy. They tend to unknowingly draw it out of anyone that's mortal or even part mortal. It takes a lot of skill to be able to control your emotions and shield yourself from it." Itachi considered the man, as he watched him process the information before continuing.

"Displaying one's horns and tail is a personal decision, usually they tend to appear when we've had a little too much to drink, on special occasions or if there is a release of large amounts of power. Otherwise most demons make a decision to show them or not. I personally find the horns mess up my hair and the tail gets in the way of my suit." He watched the mortal give a curt nod, satisfied with the answer before staring back out the window.

Naruto's curiosity was taking over as he began to wrap his mind around this world he had been dragged into. "What exactly do you do? Don't you guys just cause trouble, wars, drag people to hell and all that evil stuff?"

Pride snorted at the remark and began to explain. "The cardinal sins are in charge of maintaining a steady flow of souls to hell based on our influence on mortals. No one sin should gain too much power, so it is split evenly among the seven of us. As the leader it involves various extra tasks. I am the main voice of the seven, it's my duty to keep my colleagues up to date and help them hash out any difficulties they might incur, keep the balance of powers in check, and keep the Order off our backs. I am also in charge of speaking to the Order, the Hierarchy council and the powers that be if needed, which also means I receive the reprimand if things fall out of line. We are an influence of darkness on the humans but it must be balanced out by our opposing side, influence of light. Occasionally a human will tip the scale to a point of eternal damnation, throwing off the balance and being claimed as uncontrollable and a side steps in to take care of the imbalance."

"So you guys are more like moderators? Why do some tip the scale and not others? If it's just a dark influence then shouldn't it all be the same?" The mortal turned to look at the sin as he spoke.

Itachi quirked an eyebrow at the blunt curiosity of the man. "There are various levels and types of darkness. Any being that is mortal or was once part mortal carries a kind of darkness with them for the rest of their existence. What kind they have depends on varying factors, like how they were raised, past experiences, unfortunate events and the like. As mortals get older it will lessen and usually is not a problem if one can learn to 'make peace with their demons' otherwise it drives them to madness, depression, addiction, violence, obsession, etc. This is also partially where the work of the sins come in, of course. Every mortal on earth is assigned corresponding sin that would be their folly if they decide to give in. For example, Sloth breeds isolation and loneliness, So mortals assigned with the sin of sloth are more susceptible to fall into things like depression and other complications along the way which drag them down. Pride is paranoia, Gluttony is addiction, Envy is obsession, Greed is violence, Lust is self loathing, and Wrath is madness. Of course mortals tend to be unpredictable at times so they'll play into our hands and then have an intervention and head in the opposite direction..." He trailed off

"Then mortals have the capability of deciding their fate? We can choose to ignore the dark parts of our soul?" the blonde asked, trying to piece it together.

"It's more complex than most think. To answer your question, sometimes. There are times the darkness is a little off and you are condemned to a certain fate. Usually it's not an issue for mortals but when it is in a demon who was once part mortal then yes it can become a problem if not monitored. A WWII sized problem if you will." The sin sighed remembering the issue that had occurred a few decades past. It was the only time they appointed a new sin without waiting for the trials.

"WWII was a demon's fault?" He couldn't believe that one of the greatest historical world conflicts was caused by one demon.

"A demon who was the sin of Greed at the time. Kabuto neglected the darkness from his half mortal past and it cause an immense amount of problems. He became mad with power and greatly influenced the eastern dictators, we had a hard time fixing the mortal realm after the chaotic imbalance. He is now a prisoner in the lowest circle of hell kept under constant watch and we are closely monitored by the heavens thanks to all that." Much to Prides annoyance they had added a new level of stress to all of his colleagues.

"And to think the history books never mentioned all of that."

"Well in any matter, if you make it back to your dimension sane, you'll have experienced hell in all of its glory." The sin turned from the window and took a seat at his desk. Paperwork was arranged in small piles and files along the glass top desk. He reclined in the large executive chair and placed his head in one hand. The other hand rested on the glass, fingers drumming in a rhythmic pattern. He needed to think.

The chances that his brother would return in time for the ceremony were better now that he had some leverage by bringing the blonde here. However nothing was certain, and he needed to be prepared to compete yet again for the leadership position he was in. Not that it would be a great issue, Itachi had maintained his position as Pride and leader of the seven figureheads for the past 5 centuries. He had given up finding a replacement after the third century, all his previous nominees somehow never made it through the tournament alive, making him maintain his position by default. He had some speculation that a certain ancestor on the Hierarchy Council was to blame for that. Leave it to Madara to not want to release the pride position to someone who was not an Uchiha. Itachi rolled his eyes at the thought.

He had enjoyed his position, but after a few centuries it got old. He wanted something less stressful and less time consuming. Shisui made it a point to voice his frustration at never seeing his husband anymore. In all honesty that was the excuse Itachi made for himself. The real reason he wanted his brother to come home was something more than that that. Itachi knew he was so adamant about his brothers return because Sasuke could very well become the best Sin of Pride any of the Hierarchy has ever seen. He just needs to realize his potential, and know that he's more than capable of breaking free from all the standards set for him.

In reality Pride had minimal options regardless, if he did not want to hold his position forever. He only had two strategies on how he could go about relinquishing his title at this point. One, sire a child with a mortal and have him become next in line, however Shisui was possessive and would never allow it. Or two, have his younger brother return and take on the mantle. Unless Sasuke came back to fight willingly and claim the position Itachi had his hands tied.

The devil scrubbed his face with his hand and opened up the file of potential nominees for this years tournament. As usual, Pride and Wrath had not submitted any potential nominees and the returning figureheads would fight in the tournament, more for Itachi's leadership position than anything else as their positions as Sins were already secured. They also had an unspoken deal to try and kill as many nominees as possibles along the way. They didn't like newcomers very well, it became a trust issue and a hassle if they had to learn how to work with new team members, not to mention figure out their intentions. The sin delved into the paperwork until a chime from his desk phone broke his concentration.

"What is it Ino?" Pride glanced up to see the mortal had found a his bookshelf and was fully absorbed into flipping through the pages of 'Seven Deadly Sins: A History', oblivious to the phone conversation.

"I have your brother on the line, sir. Should I put him through?" Ino's voice came through the speakerphone.

A smile formed at the statement.

"Yes, please do." He picked up the receiver as an angry voice came through.

"Fuck you, Itachi. What the hell are you thinking?"

"I do have a cell phone you know." Itachi spun in his chair, facing the side wall of his office.

"Answer my question. Why in your right mind would you do this?"

"Little brother, I'm not sure I understand what you are referring to." The sin said smoothly, enjoying the growing aggravation in Sasuke's voice.

"The fuck you do. You took him to hell didn't you? Is he even alive?"

"Oh calm down, he's perfectly fine. If you're so concerned about him why don't you come see for yourself. I'm sure you haven't forgotten the way." Prides voice took on a bored tone. He knew exactly how to get his little brother riled up.

"HE'S A FUCKING MORTAL IN HELL!"

"Let's not make a big deal out of this. It'll only draw more attention. He seems to be quite entertained here and I've already got a plan. With any luck he'll be back soon without incurring any permanent damage." Itachi glanced over to the mortal who was now sitting cross legged on the floor surrounded by demonic literature, frowning as he was trying to make sense of what he was reading.

"You better fucking be there with him in one piece when I arrive."

The line went dead, signaling what was obviously the end of that conversation. Itachi placed the phone back in it's cradle and walked over to the pile of books on the floor.

"Enjoying ourselves are we?" The devil raised a questioning eyebrow, obviously displeased at the mess on his floor.

"I've never seen books like these before. 'History of Hell's Hierarchy', 'The Battle of the Seven Sins', 'Lineage of Lucifer"... Naruto trailed off as he skimmed another page that caught his attention.

"Demonic literature is prohibited in the mortal realm, but of course from time to time a few books are able to slip through by some means. Then idiotic mortals try to decipher them to do 'incantations' and end up possessed by lesser demons who have nothing better to do than fuck with mortal lives." Itachi picked up 'Demonic Warfare and Battle Tactics' from the ground and flipped through the pages. The books were in demonic script, no mortal should be able to read them fluently.

"Tell me what does it say here." Pride pointed to a random title on the page and allowed the blonde to read it.

"Chapter 8: Legions and Power in Numbers." Naruto glanced up questioningly at the looming figure above him.

"Interesting." Itachi placed the book back on the shelf. This was a definite complication. It appeared that there was more to this man than met the eye.

"You have an interest in literature?" The sin sat on the large leather sofa that was next to the bookshelf, trying to get a better idea about just who this seemingly mortal man was. He needed to figure out his next set of moves, and the Order would be hounding him with the upcoming tournament, if they caught wind of a mortal in hell there would be so much red tape regarding it.

"History." Naruto responded, eyes still fixated on the book before him.  
"I'm going to school for a degree in history. I'd like to work as a curator for historical documents and artifacts at the Smithsonian some day. I mean if I ever get back that is." The mortal added dryly.

"Hnnn. I suppose that's a decent goal to have for mortals. What does your family think of your interest in history?"

"It doesn't matter to me what they think." Naruto said simply, as he began to re-shelve the books.

"You have no inclination to make your parents proud?" The devil pushed the subject, although it was obvious the blonde had no desire to further the topic of his family.

"None whatsoever." The young man stated without emotion. Naruto regarded his family and past as an off limit topic to anyone. He never even fully spoke to Sasuke about his mother, just bits and pieces before he shut down and purposely changed topics. In all honesty he did not want pity from anyone, so he refused to talk about his past. It was better for him that way.

"Hn. Well I understand your desire for privacy on your personal matters but you see, you shouldn't be able to read these books. So I'd like to know just exactly what I'm dealing with here."

"What do you mean, I shouldn't be able to read these books?" the man furrowed his brow at the statement.

"Take a look again, it's in a different language." Itachi rested his head in his hand and watched with mild amusement at the expressions that played on the mortals face.

Naruto opened the book he had been reading again only to find the letters were indeed a foreign script, yet he still perfectly understood it.

"I… Wait… What?" the mortal scratched his head and continued to flip through the pages as if expecting a different result.

"Exactly, so I know you might not want to talk about it but it might help us understand what's going on here if you can tell me about your parents." the raven haired man reclined back into the sofa waiting for a response.

"I guess... My mom passed away when I was ten. I never knew my dad so I really can't tell you much about him. Just some bastard who didn't bother to come back." The blonde shut the book and finally re-shelved it.

"Hn. You may just have the sight. Have you ever seen things you can't explain or have dreams and visions that came true? Perhaps you've been able to see people and instantly know things about them?"

"My mom was like that, she'd always be talking about supernatural phenomenons she experienced. She said when I was a kid I'd always be chasing invisible creatures. I think she called them fairies but I don't really remember seeing things." he was in deep thought wondering why that part of his memories always seemed to disappear when he tried to recall it.

A small knock on the door made Naruto jump. Pride pointed to a doorway that led to the adjacent conference room and shoved the mortal in its direction. He got off the sofa and strode over to his desk. Once the large double doors were shut he sat and inhaled, collecting himself.

"Come in." Itachi spoke watching the office door open.

A tall figure made his way into the room to join Pride at his desk. His round eyes gazed around the room as he moved, no doubt sensing the mortal in the next door with his exceptional predatory skills. He smiled at the sin, flashing his teeth, sharpened to points.

"Levi, it's been a while."

"You know I hate it when you call me that." The blue skinned demon mused as he sat in a chair facing opposite of Itachi. "It's just me, this meeting is off record today."

The raven haired man relaxed in his chair at those words. Kisame had taken on the role of the Leviathan, Liaison of the Order to the Sins. Lucky for Pride, Kisame wasn't too fond of the way his organization worked. It was easy to find an ally in him and he was able to stay a few steps ahead of the policing force that was designed to keep the sins and demonic influences on earth in check. They were always waiting for one of the sins to slip up so they could jump in and throw the cardinal sin dynamic into chaos and assume control of the mortal influences.

"Kisame, please tell me you have good news." he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That depends on your definition of 'good'." The taller demon scoffed. "There are some tremors going on, someone's been fucking with the dynamics all across the board. I'm guessing your little side trip today wasn't coincidence." He motioned to the double doors that hid Naruto.

"Agreed." Pride continued in a more hushed tone. "My sigil takes a lot of skill for a mortal to be able to conjure, no one can just accidentally draw my symbol. Even when done deliberately I've only been successfully summoned once in my five centuries of working. It took a group of twenty mortals of high occult capabilities to accomplish it. There is something pulling the strings behind this situation." Itachi furrowed his brow as he continued his thought. "Also the mortal can read the blasphemous script, and his aura is a bit odd. He either is a rare mortal gifted with the sight or part demon himself." He drummed his fingers on the desk.

"Have you asked the boy about his family? If he tells us the name of his parents we can search the records and find out his bloodline from there." Kisame suggested watching itachi frown at the idea.

"He doesn't know his father, but his mother had the sight. He may just be barely unveiling it if he's gifted, although it's a bit late in age for that. I think my brother may know a little more about him however, we'll have to ask." He mulled over the thought of asking his brother for information on his ex- boyfriend, unsure how willing he'd be to answer.

"Your brother? He's back?" The leviathan asked with eyebrows raised in surprise.

"He's on his way." Itachi smirked knowingly and looked at his watch.

Kisame nodded in understanding. "And here I thought you were done meddling in his life. Yes, I'll make sure he gets to the arena in time. What are you gonna do about your mortal?"

Pride got up and made his way over to the doors that hid Naruto from view. "Naruto, come. I have someone I'd like you to meet" The sin pushed the doors open and beckoned the blonde into the room.

Kisame blinked as his vision began to turn red at the sight of the man now standing before him. This must have been what Itachi meant by odd aura. "Hmmmm… Well you sure are something." he muttered to himself. There was only one other being that made his vision turn in that way.

"This is the Leviathan. He's a friend of mine who's going to try to help figure out our situation and hopefully get you home soon." Pride crossed his arms as he spoke and watched Naruto take in Kisame's lethal appearance. "He won't bite as long as you don't provoke him." he reassured the blonde.

"Right… So, I was thinking." Naruto turned to Itachi as he spoke. "Can't we just make a deal right now and then I can be on my way back to where demons can't kill me as easily?"

"Deals are only valid on the mortal plane, and unfortunately I am a very busy demon with places to be. We don't have time for a detour to your home right now." Pride frowned at the mortals obvious frustration.

"All your rules kinda suck balls guys." Naruto sighed

"I assure you, we'll get this settled soon. I just have to be present at this event and then we will get you back tonight." Itachi moved to a coat rack and pulled down a black hooded cloak and tossed it to the blonde. "I'll see you soon Kisame."

"Be careful Itachi. Eyes are on you." The blue demon warned as the two smaller figures left the room. He made a mental note to visit with the Wrath Hierarchy. It was common knowledge that High Lord Wrath never had descendants, at least none he professed, but it wouldn't hurt to investigate if he ever had sired any halflings. There was something about that mortal that wasn't quite right. Kisame hoped for Itachi's sake it wouldn't become problematic.  
_

Sasuke walked down the trash littered alley behind the small catholic church that was hidden amidst the apartment buildings and bustling stores in the middle of Chinatown. It had been a few decades since he had gone home, but he remembered well how to find the active portal that was was constantly moving to remain hidden in the city. He rounded the corner back onto the street and reached the entrance of a dilapidated storefront. Pushing open the glass door, he heard the tinkling of a bell and stepped into the dimly lit metaphysical shop. He pulled back his hood, turned to lock the shop door and changed the cheap hanging sign over to show it was closed. Silently, he moved into aisles of occult paraphernalia, waiting for the shopkeeper to show herself.

"Come in darling, and let me show you your fate!" A silky sweet voice came from the back room.

"Thanks for the offer but I'm already aware I'm headed for hell." The raven haired figure deadpanned as he inspected the shelves full of trinkets for sale.

"Oh, it's you." all persuasion had fallen from her tone as she pulled back the beaded curtain and poked her head through to see the familiar dark figure looming in her shop.

"Shizune, it's been a while." He mused as he pulled a deck of tarot cards off the shelf.

"Not long enough if you ask me." She turned back into her room beckoning him to follow her.

He passed through the doorway into her cozy private reading area and set the deck on the large round table next to the obscenely massive crystal ball.

"How's your brother these days?" She purposely asked, knowing the mention of his family drove him up a wall. She took her seat in a large maroon velvet chair, reclining backwards and resting her feet on the table.

Sasuke still stood, arms crossed over his chest."That's the reason I'm here, I need to pay him a visit. I came to ask for the location of the portal."

"Oh my god, you're being serious…." She caught no snide humor in his tone. "You know the opening ceremony is tonight right? If you go back now you're either dead or dead." The witch waved her hand dramatically.

"Not if Madara can't catch me before I am officially announced. Once I am named an official contender the High Council can't touch me." He finally sat in the opposing chair and folded his hands on the table.

"I thought you were gonna go back only on your own terms, when you were good and ready?" She mocked slightly.

"No better time than the present." He raised an eyebrow and challenged her with the statement.

She sat up properly, indicating she was ready to do business. "Alright. I'll help you out if it means I can go another few decades without seeing your smug face. Did you bring tribute?"

"Hn." The half demon reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a gold Romani coin, dropping it into her outstretched palm.

The witch rolled it over in her fingers and examined it thoroughly.

"It'll do. You might want to look at a map to find this one if you're unfamiliar with the area. I've put it in a more secure location at the request of the Order. Something about too many drunk mortals stumbling into the previously placed ones..." She trailed off, placing the coin into her pocket and reached over for a notebook and pen. She scribbled down a series of directions on a clean sheet of paper before tearing it out and handing it to the man across her. The half breed skimmed the notes she had given him.

He looked up displeased. "76th St. Station? That's an urban legend, there's no such thing."

"That's what the mundies think…" She gave in sing song answer

"So between Brooklyn and Queens then. Close to Ozone Park?" He watched her nod in response.

"Get off at the Euclid station and go from there. You'll be able to sense it, don't worry it's not that hard for your kind to find." She reassured, seeing his doubt in her instructions.

"Right." It had been a good while since he sought out a portal, the thought of going back still made him want to run in the opposite direction. He shook his head absently, reminding himself of why he needed to go home now. The last time he abandoned the blonde it had ruined their relationship. In all honesty he was tired of running from his fate, it was time to face it head on. He was firm in his resolve, he was going back. Naruto is in danger.

"On the bright side if you make it through the trials you'll be a full demon, a high ranking demon at that, capable of making your own portals and you'll never have to see me again." She encouraged as she watched him think, understanding that the being before her had definitely changed in the past few years or so. Maybe he unknowingly was more ready to go back and face his fate then he thought. Regardless of his attempts, this was his path and he could not avoid the destiny set before him.

"I was also hoping…." Sasuke pushed the stack of cards forward.

"...Really?... It's gonna cost you extra to use the Thoth tarot" Shizune insisted and held her hand out again.

"Figures. You haven't changed one bit, witch"

"I'm not the one who still needs to use a temperamental deck to get an accurate reading." the woman criticized and accepted the two vials of thick dark red liquid he handed her as payment.

"It's mine so don't do any forbidden magic with it. I don't want my blood tied to you when they come to arrest you for raising the dead again." he warned earning him a glare as she stood to set the vials in an ornate cabinet.

"Why can't anyone let that rest? It was three centuries ago. It was for medical purposes and they let me off with a "warning". Can't you see I have my lovely day job now because of it?" She sarcastically smiled.

"The Order pays you well for being the portal keeper of New York though." He offered and watched her eyes roll into the back of her head with frustration.

She slammed the cabinet doors shut. "I'm a highly skilled practitioner of the divine powers. Being confined to this is an insult to my abilities."

"Maybe next time, don't bite off more than you can chew and think you can get away with it. Magical prowess or not, those assholes aren't to be messed with." the half breed advised.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with. You have a portal to find."


	3. Chapter 3

"Why do I have to wear this thing?" Naruto fussed with the cloak as Itachi pulled the hood over the blonde's head.

"We are going to be in a place packed with demons, someone is bound to easily pick up your mortal vibrations if they have a clear view of you. The cloak is hexed and it will disturb the frequency enough to keep them from pinpointing where it's coming from at least." Itachi exited the elevator and picked up a set of keys that Ino had waiting for him.

"My brother should arrive shortly see him up to my office and then you may leave early for the festivities." Itachi waved at his receptionist as he walked out the front door and down the steps to a sleek black Maserati waiting for him on the curb.

"Woah" Naruto whispered at the sight of the car. Itachi gave him an impatient glare, as he held the passenger door open. Naruto caught on and slipped by the door man carrying a garment bag from the building to Itachi's car, and slid into the seat unnoticed.

"Thank you, Morgrim." Pride took the garment bag and hung it in the car before shutting the door and taking the wheel.

"Where exactly are we going?" Naruto moved the garment to rest in his lap so his view out the window was no longer obstructed.

"You've heard of the seven deadly sins, every century we have this public ceremony to officially announce who's up for nomination to become the next seven." The demon joined the evening traffic as it flowed into the twisting speedways.

"I remember seeing a book about the Sins in your office. So there isn't a set group of people who do that forever?" Naruto absently searched for a seatbelt as he saw the looming road filled with speeding vehicles ahead.

"This car doesn't have seat belts, I'm not a bad driver either." Itachi watched him give up looking for some form of safety restraint out of the corner of his eye. "To answer your question, would you like to have the same job for all of eternity?"

"Good point. So someone is going to take your place then?"

"Maybe. Depends on if they show up in time or not." Itachi took a turn off that lead to the center of the city.

"I don't think I understand. Can't you just give up your job if you are tired of it? Why do you have to have a ceremony or tournament? This place has so many complex and shitty rules you know…." Naruto laughed at Prides annoyed glare.

"Did you read the origin story to how the seven became the seven?" the sin inquired and watched the mortal shake his head.

"When Lucifer fell from heaven along with third of the angels, God had cast him out for the seven obscenities found in him. Those were Pride, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy, Greed and Wrath. Lucifer decided to build his empire on these seven cardinal sins and in contrast to God gave each of them a vessel and life to be used of their own accord. The seven were grateful for being given their ability to decide their fate and choose to plead fealty to Lucifer and help build his empire. Of course up until the Order was created a few centuries ago, the sins would feed information to Lucifer and the other powers that be for political power and whatnot. It was eventually deemed unfair as the power continuously became unbalanced between the seven and the Order was created to monitor us and demonic influences on the mortal plane."

"Ok, but how does the tournament fit into all of this?" the blonde stared out the window momentarily distracted by the cityscape.

"There are a few major rules in regards to the position of the seven. A tournament takes place every century and if any of the sins decide to nominate someone to takeover their position they must be tested to ensure they are worthy of the title. If the current figurehead chooses to keep their position then they compete for the leader position, and usually try to kill off as many candidates as possible. Candidates have to be either adult half breeds, they cannot be a full mortal. If a direct descendant of one of the original sins is present they must participate in the trials, no exceptions. There is no lying to the Mother of Fates who chooses the names during the ceremony, she sees the truth behind the bloodlines. Other rules are a bunch of gibberish you probably don't care about, but yes you are correct. We have an obscene amount of complex rules here, but it's better that we have a good form of order than running amuck don't you think?" Pride felt like he was droning on, with the various details.

Naruto nodded, satisfied with his response. "Okay, so what's the big deal with the Order?"

"Think of the order as hell's military or policing force. They receive direct orders from the powers that be. They follow rules, and see right and wrong as either black or white. In reality there are so many shades of grey in between, and we often have to work by trying to commit the lesser evil to keep our powers in check. They are what I am trying to hide you from as well. The only person you can trust to not damn you to a lower circle of hell from the Order is the Leviathan." Itachi explained as he gracefully parallel parked in a his designated spot. He reached over and took his uniform from Naruto before he exited the car.

"You mean that blue guy in your office earlier? He looked like he wanted to break me in two." the mortal fell into step with Pride as caught up and they walked to the locker rooms ahead.

"Hn. Make no mistake, Kisame is dangerous but he's an ally of mine behind the scenes. He doesn't agree with with the way they work so he helps me stay a few steps ahead." Itachi opened the locker room and checked it for any other occupants. They were alone. He opened his locker and sat on the bench to remove his shoes and don his uniform.

"I'm guessing that crest on the uniform he was wearing is how I can tell who's in the order?" Naruto fidgeted as he leaned against a wall waiting for Itachi to finish changing.

"Yes, The red cloud is the Order symbol. All members wear it on their uniforms." Pride finally stated absently as he finished lacing up his boots.

"Got it, Stay away from the cloud people and keep my hood on at all times." Naruto flashed a smile as the Sin fixed his sleeve. Itachi now wore a uniform of all black. His pants were a thick material, the ends were neatly tucked into combat boots that were polished to perfection. His long sleeved shirt clung to his body and his hands now sported fingerless gloves. The mortal blinked at the demon, Naruto saw a completely different version of Itachi than the intimidating businessman in an expensive suit a few moments ago. He looked like a master assassin, calculating, merciless and capable of taking lives without a second thought.

Naruto inhaled, he needed to get a hold of himself. Just a few more hours and he could go home. He watched as the dark figure draped a collared cloak over his shoulders and fasten the clasp. There was a lone symbol on the back of the material, the only color in the monochrome uniform.

"What's that fan looking symbol? I remember seeing it on the doors to your building." he asked as the Sin closed his locker signaling he was finished.

"The Pride crest. More recently it's known as the 'Uchiha' crest, since my family have been the only ones to be successors to the Pride position. Every Sin has their own designated crest, and only those who have held the position are allowed to wear it." The raven haired man walked over to the mortal.

"Uchiha? Wait, are you related to a Sasuke Uchiha?" Naruto's head snapped up at the mention of the surname.

 _Shit._ Itachi thought to himself. "Sasuke is my younger brother." The demon watched the varying emotions that the man expressed across his face. Realization, anger, sadness. As expected his brother had kept his true nature a secret from his ex-lover.

"Well, I guess he wasn't kidding when he said his family was complicated." the blonde joked.

"No, he wasn't." Pride sighed and sat next to the mortal for a moment. "My brother is on his way to help get you back to your realm in one piece. I understand you feel betrayed but please wait until all this is over before you never speak to him again. We will need all the help we can get in order for you to make it back."

The hooded figure nodded and stood to follow Itachi out into the stadium.

"Don't get careless" the demon whispered more to Naruto but partially to remind himself, before exiting the room.

Sasuke dusted off his shoulders as he descended the platform and briskly walked down the street. He pulled the hood of his jacket up over his head, grateful that the streets were empty at this time of the evening. A few things had changed since he had last been to hell, but it was generally the same layout. He saw the building in a distance with the familiar Pride crest, although the building had gotten a facelift the location hadn't changed. He entered the lobby area and approached a familiar face.

"Ino." Sasuke looked blankly at the receptionist.

"Sasuke, It's been a while." The succubus nodded and stood to lead him up to Itachi's office, her long hair swinging as she walked. "Your brother mentioned you may be visiting."

"Hn." The halfbreed grunted in response. He took the time to observe the lobby, fully aware that his brothers receptionist was observing him. The chandeliers were the same but the marble floor was a new sight.

The elevator dinged, breaking the silence. Sasuke followed Ino in and pressed the button that would take him to the top floor.

"It's good to see you." The succubus tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she turned to face her old crush.

"Hn." Sasuke took a side glance at the demon. She had always been so obsessed with him back then. He remembered how it annoyed him to no end. A small flash on her left hand caught his eye, it was a ring.

"You're in a union?" He kept his gaze on the elevator door when he spoke.

Ino blushed and showed him the back of her left hand, a perfect view of the diamond ring.

"I'm engaged." She smiled wide with obvious joy at the thought.

"Congratulations" he turned to face her finally. She looked genuinely happy about it. Part of him was still annoyed but to a lesser degree now that he knew she wasn't trying to seduce him.

She nodded and turned back to face the elevator door. "Thanks. If you're still here you are more than welcome to attend the union ceremony. It would be good to have you there."

"I will attend if possible." he promised as the elevator reached it destination and opened its doors. Sasuke stepped out and looked back at the succubus still in the elevator. Ino gave a small smile and wave before mouthing "Good Luck" and pressed the button that would take her back down to the lobby.

He turned and opened the doors to his brothers office, walked in only to find Kisame standing by the window staring out over the city. The tall figure didn't turn as Sasuke approached, but the halfbreed knew that the Leviathan had heard him come in.

"Where is he?" Sasuke stood next to the blue demon observing the city he grew up in and how it immensely changed over the past five centuries.

"He has an event tonight. I'm here to take you to him and the mortal." He turned to face the shorter figure waiting for a response.

A sigh escaped the younger man. "Is Naruto safe?"

"For now. Itachi is taking precautions, but he will need your help if he is to get back to the mortal realm soon."

Sasuke crossed his arms and frowned. "I know, that's why I came. I'm risking a lot just by being back here. If Madara catches wind of my return before my name is called in the ceremony, he'll make sure I can't shame the family name anymore by participating in the tournament."

Kisame nodded. "Here you'll need this." He pushed a familiar sword into the Uchiha's hands.

"Just in case" the Leviathan said as an afterthought although both knew that was a lie.

"Let's go" Sasuke turned and slung the sword into its place across his back as he followed the blue demon from the office.

Itachi and Naruto were seated in a balcony reserved for the current Sin of Pride. The blonde looked out across the arena and saw six other similar balconies with different crests displayed across the railings. The was another longer balcony that had dark tinted glass windows and no symbols displayed.

"That is where the High Council is, the original cardinal sins." Itachi watched Naruto take in the sights of the vast stadium as best as he could with a hood covering his face.

"I'm guessing the other balconies are for the other Sin's in power?" the mortal watched the white haired demon in the balcony next to them with interest. He had a similar black uniform like Itachi only the crest on the back was different and his mouth was covered with a thin material. He was leaning over the railing with a book in hand and a bored expression across his face. Naruto caught the title and turned to Itachi."Is he reading porn?"

Pride nodded, unfazed by the blonde's question. "That's Kakashi, current figurehead for Sloth. He's a relentless procrastinator and would rather be reading at home with his dogs than doing anything else, but make no mistake he's got one of the sharpest minds in all of existence."

Naruto stared at the man, he seemed harmless enough, but then again so did Itachi to a certain extent before he changed clothes. He continued to observe the other balconies watching the interactions of demons.

"Is the one eating potato chips Gluttony?" He watched the husky figure munch as Itachi responded.

"Choji. Yes he is Gluttony. He really does have a compassionate heart, and a rather tender nature for a demon. He gives a much needed perspective to keeping the balance on certain topics. Just don't call him fat. Not even I will step in to try and save you from your certain death." A smile played on the demon's lips as Naruto laughed. Itachi went down the row describing his team to the mortal as they waited for Shisui to show up.

"That's Yamato, Envy. His intimidating expression is just for show." Naruto saw the death glare Itachi was talking about and gave a shiver. "He has a certain determination he brings to the team, although he can be immensely stubborn 75% of the time. I've found that he and Kakashi work best together for some reason. I suspect they have some relations going on that they have yet to disclose to me, or maybe they simply have a lot of respect for each other and a good dynamic." Pride gave a small shrug and continued to the next balcony.

"Anko is Greed. She can get intense at times, which is a little overbearing but she has has a fearlessness even I covet. She also has no filter, and speaks her mind regardless of who it offends. The perspective is refreshing from time to time I suppose." The female sat on the railing with her legs crossed, and dangling. She casually conversed to another demon in her private box. Naruto understood the fearless aspect he spoke of when he saw how she sat on the metal rail so freely despite being at least 40 floors from the ground.

"Let me guess, Lust?" the mortal took in the built man with lavender eyes and long dark hair. The figure was standing with his hands resting on his hips, his features were that of a model straight from the runway.

"Correct. Neji is a genius and a prodigy in his family. He has little patience for anything frivolous, which in turn helps us stay focused on the task at hand. His arrogance is tiresome at times however." Naruto nodded sensing that from the figure Itachi was describing.

"'Tachi" Pride turned at the familiar voice. Shisui had entered the private balcony and smiled at his husband. The Sin rose to meet his better half with an embrace, and accept the kiss planted on his forehead.

Naruto turned to look out again, giving the couple a moment of privacy. Movement from an empty balcony caught his eye, he hadn't been aware that there was someone in that one before. He watched as a mysterious figured walked into view to look over the stadium. Light reflected off the various metal bars and rings that decorated his ears and mouth, as glass green eyes encircled in smudged black eyeliner flashed to Naruto's direction, capturing his stare momentarily before continuing to roam over the other balconies. The blonde released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. The mortals interest peaked as he continued to observe the unknown demon, the intensity of his gaze setting the man on edge. The redhead crossed his arms and allowed his eyes to continue to observe the seats that were quickly filling up, unaware that blue eyes were fixated on his every move. A splash of ink became slightly visible as the demon moved and the sleeve of his dark shirt rode up on one of the arms across his chest.

"Naruto? Did you hear me?" Itachi placed a hand on the distracted mortals shoulder.

"Who is that?" Naruto's spoke softly eyes still on the figure.

"Hm? Gaara, he holds the title of Wrath. A bit of a wild card really, I can never tell what he is thinking, however he is the first person I send on missions of high status. He holds a strong sense of honesty and influence over others when he speaks despite his obviously controlled and guarded emotions." Pride watched Gaara's eyes move and lock onto him. The Uchiha gave a small nod in greeting and watched the demon turn and disappear from sight, not returning the gesture.

Itachi turned back to the blonde and repeated his original statement. "I think we've come up with a plan to get you back home. We are just waiting for our distraction to get here so we can put it into play."

Shisui began explaining how it would work out. They would have to wait until the distraction had begun, with any luck nobody would take notice of his leave. Naruto would stick with Shisui as they would follow Itachi, at a safe distance, out of the stadium and get back to the portals, make their deal and be done.

"Now there is just the matter of deciding on a deal." Pride took his seat and considered the options.

"Could it be anything? Could we do a sort of trade?" Naruto looked up, obviously still in thought

"Trade? It would have to be something of equal value. What do you have in mind?"

"Give me one of those history books you have in your office." The mortal watched Itachi think for a moment and turn to look at his husband for input.

"What would be of equal value that you could provide?" Shisui asked.

"Hmmm… is there something specific that you want? I'd offer a mortal history book but I doubt you'd even want one of those. What's the norm for a trade like this?"

"I suppose I could pull the favor card for this occasion." Pride glanced to see Shisui think and then nod in approval.

"Favor?"

"Yes, I give you what you desire and you owe me a favor for later. I can call on you at any time to fulfill whatever I need." The Sin explained.

"Honestly I'd rather never see you guys again. No offense."

Shisui laughed. "Believe me kid, we'd rather not see you again either. But it's a quick fix for now until we have more time to think up an equivalent favor for the book."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Fine"

It wasn't ideal but it would have to work. Sasuke's surprise arrival and announcement as a candidate would be a good enough distraction to the crowd, the order and the hierarchy council for Itachi to take leave while Shisui and Naruto followed closely behind. All that was left was to wait for the younger Uchiha to arrive and put the plan into motion.

The chime of his phone pulled the garnet haired demon back into the shadows of his balcony. He pulled it out of his pocket and accepted the call.

"Yes." Wrath answered.

"Boss, I've got something you won't like." The witch's voice came through the line.

"Last time you said that I had to bail you out of trouble with the Order." The demon chided

"Seriously, can nobody let that go today? I didn't raise the dead again, besides it was your ex, Fuu's fault. Not mine." she made her exasperation obvious in her tone

"What is it?" he grew tired of the meaningless conversation so far.

"Uchiha, Sasuke." He could hear the amusement in her voice.

"He's back?" He halted his train of thought at that name.

"Came looking for the portal and passed through it a while ago. He should be well on his way to the stadium, looked like he's serious about it." Shizune reported.

"Hmmm. That's doubtful, he's been running from his problems ever since Madara called him a disgrace on the Uchiha name for not being as good at his brother." Gaara paced as his mind began to process in the new factor of having the young Uchiha in the trials.

"I dunno, but I can tell you that something else is going on. There's been a tremor and everything feels off, something isn't right about it." Words of caution, he knew better than to ignore the witches intuition.

The demon watched his assistant walk into his balcony and take a seat, noting his slightly displeased expression.

"Fine, let me know if anything else happens." He ended the call and looked over to Temari.

"I take it there's a change of plans?" She smoothly mused, not looking up at him.

"It seems there will be a Pride candidate this year after all." He took a seat next to her, positioning his elbow on the arm rest and let his fingers gently tug at the curved barbell in the middle of his bottom lip. A tell his assistant knew quite well that he was deep in thought, trying to perceive what course of action that meant for him in the trials.

"Why would Itachi hide this from you?" She asked purposely trying to gauge his emotions as he so often concealed them from everyone.

"High Lord Madara wants Sasuke's head mounted on a wall for the shame of not becoming like Itachi. He wouldn't have told anyone except his husband about it, it's too risky to notify us of his brothers arrival. That's not what I'm worried about. There's something else Shizune said..." He was cut off by the lights dimming and the sound of drums signaling the start of the ceremony.

Temari pulled out her phone and sent off a quick message to Kankro to tighten up on security, knowing well her boss wouldn't want to bother with it. Whatever it was that had him worried she would have to wait to find out after the event was over, Gaara was expected to be visible and at attention the whole time. She watched her employer stand and make his way to the railing to watch the ritual that would take place down below. He was so hard to read and careful about his emotions. No matter how much she thought she knew, it would be a small comparison to the large parts of him would forever remain a mystery.

Sasuke was able to disappear well into the crowds and made his way to the balcony as Kisame had instructed. He slipped into the private box just as the lights dimmed and the music sounded. Two heads turned up to look at the man, a small smirk setting on his older brother's face.

"Glad you could make it, I was getting ready to send a search party after you." Shisui laughed as he addressed his brother-in-law

"Shisui" the young Uchiha gave a slight bow in greeting.

He watched his brother give him an approving glance before making his way over to the balcony railing to take his place and watch the ceremony.

"Naruto?" Sasuke whispered and raised his brow in question, not seeing his ex with them.

The taller demon gestured to the back corner of the box with his hand, obviously entertained at the coming interaction. The half breed turned to find the blonde pulling a hood back from his head, revealing an irritated expression set onto his face. An awkward silence took over as the Uchiha struggled to find something to say to lighten the tension. Naruto continued to glare at him obviously upset at the entirety of the situation and the secret he had kept from him.

"Well I take it you've met my brother already." He watched the mortal sigh in frustration.

"At least you didn't run off and leave me to suffer alone this time." Naruto said harshly as he moved to take the seat next to Shisui.

"Hey, you have no idea what I'm giving up by being here right now just so you can get the chance to go back home." Sasuke moved to block the mortal from taking another step, forcing them to look each other in the eye.

"Some of us would just call that being a decent person and having the balls to do what's right." the blonde scoffed watching the man before him try to build up his defences like he always did when they argued.

"I fail to see how any of this is my fault." the young Uchiha narrowed his eyes challengingly.

"Stop playing the fucking victim, you are always so ready to blame other people for things that are your responsibility." Naruto knew he struck a nerve with that statement.

"I should have stayed back in New York and let the demons have you." Sasuke muttered bitterly

The blonde pulled his fist back, ready to knock his ex into the next dimension. A tall figure interupted the confrontation and stood between them.

Shisui's tone was light but his face was full of warning. "Let break up this touching reunion and save it for later, ok?"

"Whatever" the mortal grunted and took a seat watching the large tv mounted on the wall that played the events that were currently taking place on the stadium floor.

The drumming had finally stopped and an announcer dressed in a horrendous green spandex suit took center stage. Sasuke shoved his hands into his jacket pockets as he watched Naruto proceed to ignore him. He shouldn't have said that last part, he knew it was like throwing salt into a very deep and already infected wound. The mortal has suffered enough abandonment in his life and the last thing he needed right now was to ruin the little hope of friendship they had left. His nerves were on edge, he just wanted this night to be over already. He leaned his head back against the wall and shut his eyes as he listened to the over exuberant announcer ramble on about the ceremony tradition. He inhaled and mentally prepared himself for what was to come. _Please don't let this be the death of me._


	4. Chapter 4

"Welcome! Welcome, creatures of darkness!" The announcer jumped up and down with his introduction, black bowl cut hair bouncing along with his actions. The unsightly forest green jumpsuit clung to his body as the spandex stretched with every movement earning a collective cringe and a few face palms from the sins. He waved eagerly to the crowd as they cheered for the start of the ceremony. Every seat in the enormous auditorium was occupied with demons and half breeds from various districts of hell and earth. It was the one of the few times that dark entities and their offspring gathered to revel in the entertainment not at the cost of mortals lives.

"Thank you for bringing such energy tonight! You will need it, to cheer for your favorite nominees. I am Guy, and I will be your fabulous host through the trials. It's gonna be great and I hope you're ready. But first let us begin with a round of applause for our current figureheads, constantly working hard to serve our realm." He threw his hands in the air as spotlights found the demons in the balconies up above.

Strong applause came forth as the large televisions showed each of their faces one by one, obvious admiration from the crowd was heard as the host gave a small introduction for each of them. A few sins waved and smiled at the crowds as the cameras panned across their faces, others, like Pride, merely nodded and gave a half hearted smirk to acknowledge the masses. Wrath ignored it all completely, uninterested in the swooning admirers below or the crazed applause that came forth when he was introduced.

"Looks like someone's got a stick up their ass. What does it take to get a reaction from that guy?" Naruto leaned over and whispered to Shisui.

"You could move heaven and earth and he will forever remain unphased by it. Gaara is very….guarded with his emotions." The Uchiha chose his words carefully.

The mortal watched the seemingly emotionless demon finally give a look of annoyance towards the announcer indicating that he'd better finish the introductions before he lost patience. Guy stuttered momentarily under the glare before moving along.

"And now, please welcome to the stage this tournaments referees who will go over the tournament rules." The demon began yet another round of applause as whoops and hollers rang out from the audience at the sight of two figures now taking the stage. "The best reapers hell has to offer, Haku and Zabuza!"

The smaller reaper took the microphone from the host and waited for silence around the arena.  
"Thank you for having us. Zabuza and I are humbled to have been nominated as the referees for this centuries tournament once again." The demon spoke through his mask

"That kid is a reaper? As in the grim reaper, take your soul when you die? He doesn't look older than sixteen." Naruto choked slightly.

Shisui laughed "I assure you he's at least sixteen centuries old. Aging works differently for demons and even those with demon blood."

"So you mean, people like Sasuke?" His voice dropped to lower.

"Sasuke is a bit older than you think. Once a half blood reaches the age of twenty one their bodies stop aging although they can still be killed as they aren't completely immortal and what not." He carefully watched the mortal furrow his brow as he processed this information.

Their attention was turned back to the tall reaper on the stage as he spoke. "The rules for this tournament remain unchanging. All potential nominees will be presented before the Mother of Fates and she will choose the seven who will participate in the trials. If an heir of the original seven bloodlines is present and of age they will be chosen and must participate, no exceptions. If there are no nominees or heir present for a sin in specific, the current figurehead will participate in the trials yet again." The large reaper spoke clearly despite the bandages that bound his mouth shut.

"The High Council can verbally advise nominees but to keep this a fair competition, no physical or divine interaction can occur. The chosen nominees with be mentored by the current figureheads in preparation for the trials. They will have one year to prepare, once the trials begin there will be seven tasks to complete in order to prove their abilities and worth. In the event of the death of a participant, the current figurehead will serve another century in their current position and the trials continue minus those that have deceased. The highest scoring participant will be given the title of Commander and will become the leader of the seven for the next century." Haku finished the list of notable rules for the trials nodding to Zabuza as his cue to continue.

"We will be actively making sure none of these rules are broken and no divine or outside interference happens during the training period and the seven tasks. Keep in mind we reapers aren't known for our mercy, so expect harsh repercussions if any rules are broken." He gestured to the large executioner's sword that hung across his back with that last statement.

"Has anyone died in the tournament before?" The blonde was unsure if that rule was a sarcastic joke or not. He was betting on the latter, it is hell after all.

Shisui nodded. "It's normal for a few if not all the participants to die during the tasks. Half of these sins have been in power for so long for that reason. These are big shoes to fill, they need to be positive the newbies can hack it."

"I don't get it though, why all the physical activity and dangerous games? Itachi's work seems mostly office related."

The Uchiha gave a small chuckle as he reclined in his seat. "Don't be fooled, he could massacre hordes of Nephilim with ease."  
"Nephilim?"

Shisui let his feet rest on the chair in front of him and ignored the comment. "Aside from their day job of corrupting mortals, they have other duties that come with the title of Deadly Sin. The realms this past century have been pretty peaceful for the most part, but wars on the mortal plane always reflect unbalance and turmoil on the spirit realms. The Sins are in charge of protecting this realm in combat if needed until they adjust the balance of powers. Thankfully it's been a few decades since they've had to work those kinds of missions but they still need to be prepared for it both mentally and physically. It takes a major amount of intense training to even be considered a nominee. Pride and Wrath have completely given up trying to find someone to take over their jobs, and I don't blame them."

"Fuck. I respect whoever competes, they have major balls, but fuck. That's a shitload of stress I would not want to sign up for. I am really glad I don't have to deal with things like this." He gestured to the arena.

"Be grateful, frail mortal." the demon next to him snorted

"And now it is time to summon the Mother of Fates and begin the selection of competitors. All those who have been nominated please begin making your way to the arena floor." The host beckoned as side doors opened and a small crowd of about fifty half demons made their way to stand on their designated spaces before the stage area.

They stood in perfect lines behind the crest according to which sin position they were being nominated for, at attention like they had been training for this moment their entire lives. There were four lines of ten and a single half demon standing on her own next to two empty spaces. Naruto recognized the fan symbol on the floor to the left of the woman as the Pride crest, no nominees stood behind it. He figured most of the halflings had been trained since birth for these trials, since Shisu had explained that to be chosen as a competitor was considered a great honor in the demon world. He thought back to the rule about the descendants mandatory participation. He now understood what the distraction in their plan would be, Sasuke would join the tournament.

He looked up and caught the dark eyes momentarily, not wanting to believe his thoughts as a variety of emotions played across his face. The very person who abandoned him six months ago was here willing to partake in an insane demonic tradition that would alter his life drastically which gave Naruto a better chance to get out of hell in one piece. His gut twisted with guilt as he felt the halfblood occupy the dark leather chair next to him. The blonde looked forward, eyes on the screen but his mind was intently focused on the situation at hand. He had been able to attempt to tolerate all the other things happening around him today mostly because they didn't ultimately have anything to do with his mortal life. This that was about to happen would affect him directly. Sasuke was putting himself in this position purposely so he could have a chance at going home safely. His inner self was at war with how he was supposed to feel about it.  
"Don't beat yourself up about it, I'm not doing this just for you. It's been long overdue that I return. I was just hoping to stretch it out until the next century."

Shisui rose from his seat "Better if you deal with it all in one go. Like ripping off a band aid, kid."

"Thank you for your commentary." Sasuke sighed as he watched his brother in law move to the opposite end of the balcony to give them some space.

Naruto kept his gaze forward.

"Really though, this isn't something that could have been avoided for me. I've come to terms with that now. I just hoped we could have talked before I had to come back to hell." The young Uchiha kept his voice low, but couldn't hide the small tinge of regret.

The blond finally spoke at that. "What makes you think I would have listened to you? You can do whatever the fuck you want. Don't patronize me by thinking I care."

"Fine. You're right. I owe you an apology Naruto, among lots of other things but an apology is the least I can offer right now."

"I don't want to fucking hear it. You can keep your apology and shove it up your ass." The mortal stood and walked over to where Shisui was leaning against a wall. Everything inside him was screaming at him to turn around and make amends. Sasuke was trying, but trying didn't erase what had been done and an apology didn't undo the multitude of panic attacks and hurt he had suffered because of it. It wouldn't fix the shattered trust or change the fact that Naruto had so much anger about the situation right now. All he could trust himself to do was keep up that wall around his heart and deny anyone access to it again, especially Sasuke.

Scowling at the outcome of his attempt to apologize, Sasuke had moved along the wall closer to his elder brother. He wanted more time to try and talk things out with Naruto but the man was obviously not ready to hear it and unfortunately his time was becoming limited. He caught a glimpse of the nominees on the ground and his palms began to sweat. Despite his aloof demeanor his heart was racing beneath his chest, betraying the calm facade he aimed to portray. In a few minutes he would be named and he would be faced with everything he had been avoiding for so many years. The shame of the Uchiha lineage had returned to steal the title from Itachi. Great great grandfather Madara would be enraged, his parents would be appalled, the entirety of hell would be in shock that Sasuke would dare to come back and challenge the High Lord Pride's wishes. His brother was the only one who ever tried to stand up for him while Madara wrote him of as a failure of a grandchild and ordered him to leave hell after he was unable to best his brother. He was deemed unworthy of taking over the title his family held. His parents didn't say a word as he fled, swearing to them he'd never come back to this shitshow. Yet here he is, minutes away from being selected and throwing everything into complete chaos.

"Make sure he gets back tonight."

Itachi gave a slight nod, the only indication that he had heard his brother's request. The half blood pulled his jacket hood over his head once again and exited the balcony without a second glance at the mortal. He quietly snuck his way down to the lower level of the arena and waited in the shadows for his name to be called. The candidates had finished their introductions and the host had welcomed a new figure onto the stage, the Mother of Fates. She floated gracefully toward the center with her long white hair trailing behind. Raising a hand to calm the crowds applause, she waited for the noise to settle from the audience. She blinked, her unnatural white eyes scanned the potential candidates in front of her, taking in the faces and making a mental note that the Hyuga girl was the only descendant present amid the rest of the nominees. She gave a small smile already sensing that there was more, just not visible at the moment. This would make for an exciting turn of events.

"Good evening. I am the Mother of Fates, Lady Kaguya. The selection ceremony will now begin. I ask that you please refrain from applause until all seven candidates have been chosen."

She motioned for the first line of nominees to approach the stage. As they lined up shoulder to shoulder she observed them carefully, already sensing the abilities and personalities of the ones who were a terrible choice for position of Envy. Many were what would be considered weak and mentally incapable of growing into the Sin strengths, Envy was a sin of impulse there could be no hesitation or fear of showing strength. She turned back to the audience as she closed her eyes and inhaled. The third eye on her forehead began to open and the stadium fell into complete silence, watching with anticipation. Her arms stretched out before her as a large purple flame flickered to life in her hands, growing larger and wild with every passing second.

"Fate has chosen…" She waited for the flames to peak before she clapped her hands shut and smothered the demonic fire. Smoke swirled around her clasped hands, revealing a folded piece of parchment in her grasp as is dissipated. She silently read the blasphemous script before turning it over and showing the crowd the letters written in blood.

"Haruno, Sakura"

A woman with pastel pink hair and bright green eyes stepped forward, smiling widely with obvious excitement. The reapers shook her hand in congratulations and led her back down to stand on the Envy crest at the stadium floor while the unchosen candidates were ushered off the stage to stand on the sidelines and watch the remaining of the selections. The ritual was repeated for each sin, Fate choosing the best proposed candidate out of the offered. One by one the crests on the floor became occupied by the new competitors. Zabuza guided the only candidate standing behind the Lust crest to the stage. Her long black hair swayed as she climbed up the steps and made her way to the center. The ritual in this case was more for the sake of ceremony than anything else. The candidate was a Hyuga, direct descendant of the High Lord Lust and would be chosen to compete regardless. Her lavender eyes were patient as she allowed Lady Kaguya to proceed and called her name from the flame of fate and then descended back down to now stand on the crest like the other chosen half bloods.

"Pride has no nominees this century, so by default our figurehead nominates himself to serve for another century." the large stadium screen now showed Itachi still standing in his balcony. He gave a slight nod for Lady Kaguya to proceed with her ritual. His face showing no signs of the knowledge that would soon shock the entire stadium once she read the name off that slip of paper.

"Fate has chosen…" Kaguya gave a devilish smirk as she read the paper that appear out of the flame. She knew she has sensed another descendant in the proximity, throwing a small amused glance at Itachi.

"Uchiha..." She deliberately paused for effect enjoying every millisecond of this situation. "Sasuke"

Absolute silence. You could have heard a pin drop as nobody even dared to breathe from the shock of what Kaguya had just said. A dark figure emerged from the shadow of the arena floor entrance and began making his way to the lineup of contestants. He gave a slight tug on his jacket hood, revealing the tell tale raven hair and onyx eyes that were every bit the Uchiha traits, and the smug smirk slapped on his face that was every bit Sasuke. A collective gasp rang out as he revealed his face and the audience began buzzing with noise at this turn of events. Sasuke reached the Pride symbol and took his place on top of it already allowing his trademark bored expression to settle.

"Quite a dramatic return for someone as nonchalant as you, don't you think?" Lavender eyes glanced curiously at the older half demon standing next to her.

"This is the closest I'll ever get to a welcome home party, Hinata. Let me enjoy it."

The Hyuga quirked an eyebrow at him and let a small smile slip, just quickly enough for the Uchiha to notice it before it disappeared. "Fair enough. Welcome back."

Sasuke continued to look at the female beside him. It had been a good thirty years since they had last seen each other. Hinata Huyga was possibly the only other half breed that understood what it was to be held to high family standards and live most of your life with your family trying to control you, always someone else pulling your strings. The only difference between them was that she stayed and allowed herself to be broken so she could be rebuilt into that strong and ruthless daughter her parents pushed her to become. The gentle sweet young girl he remembered from the past was no longer visible, instead it was hidden under layers of resentment and spite that she somehow controlled into a well composed disposition.

"Please calm yourselves, the selection has not ended." Lady Kaguya had begun speaking again, working to calm the crowd that was vibrating with mixed excitement and surprise.

Sasuke looked up to find his brother watching him intently, a flash of amusement played on his face. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Shisui and a hooded Naruto silently moving through the back walkways of the seating areas. No one had noticed them yet, it was all working to plan. Relief began to trickle over him, he may be stuck in this tournament but at least Naruto would make it back home in one piece.

"Wrath has no nominees this century, so by default our figurehead nominates himself to serve for another century." The Mother of Fates recited once the commotion had subsided and was silent once more. The cameras panned to Gaara now as he stood with his arms crossed and a vacant expression giving the audience no clue as to his thoughts of the new Pride contender. He gave a slight nod for the demon to proceed.

"Fate has chosen.." Fire licked her pristine hands one last time, leaving the blood written script in her grasp as it died at her command. She opened the parchment and stared at it for just a moment too long than normal. Forgetting her composure, she spun around to look directly at the redhead in the balcony above. He gave a small tilt of his head indicating he was not sure why she seemed so shocked, brows furrowing slightly as he noted her expression. She returned to face the front of the stage, eyebrows raised as high as possible and mouth slightly agape. The demons in the stands began shifting uncomfortably, and the rest of the figureheads now leaned anxiously over their balconies once they noticed something was clearly wrong. She looked back at the slip of paper in her hand furrowing her brow and inspecting the script once more, as if something was missing from before. A slight whisper began across the arena as the distraught Mother of Fates seemed to be having a breakdown of some sort. Shisui and Naruto had stopped and occupied some vacant seats near the ground level, waiting for Itachi to leave his balcony as planned so they could return the mortal and seal the deal. The blonde gave a questioning look as to what was happening with the selection ceremony. Shisui returned a confused shrug and turned back to watch the events unfolding on the stage.

Lady Kaguya cleared her throat and finally spoke. "Forgive me." All serenity and perfected composure had returned, the audience fell silent once more.

"Fate has chosen a Namikaze. Uzumaki, Naruto."

She turned the paper over to allow the cameras to zoom in and display the image on the large screens. Sure enough, to everyone's confusion the name read in calligraphy script, (Namikaze) Uzumaki, Naruto.

_  
The blonde blinked at first, not really processing what the demon on stage had just said. He read his name, then read it again, and once more. Panic began to rise and his breathing became unsteady. He felt a hand on his shoulder shaking him.

"Naruto. She isn't talking about you right? Please tell me you have a different last name…" Shisui gently tried to pull the man from falling into a panic.

"How common of a surname is Uzumaki around here?" Naruto finally choked out. He turned to face the Uchiha, eyes wide with anxiety. He watched the older demon shake his head and release a heavy sigh. The crowds had begun to rumble with confused excitement once more as Lady Kaguya called out for the Uzumaki once more. Shisui caught a glimpse of Sasuke out on the arena floor, white as a ghost and frantic eyes scanning for the blonde. There was no mistaking it, Naruto was a half breed. A powerful half breed if he was a Namikaze, even if the poor bastard didn't know it just yet.

"You have to go, Naruto. There is no way you can run from this. Even if you try they will find you and send your soul to eternal damnation for failure to participate." Shisui hurriedly whispered, hoping the blonde could keep it together long enough to finish out the ceremony.

"I… I don't understand." He gripped the demon by shoulders, pleading for a logical explanation. His breathing was becoming shallow. How had everything just gone to shit for him today. He was so close to getting back home and this had to happen. Now he would never get home. He didn't want to participate in any stupid tournament. What if he died? He'd never see his friends again, or his shitty apartment, or have another chance to visit his mother's grave.

SLAP

Shisui's palm connected with Naruto's tanned cheek. "Pull yourself together kid. It's do or die right now. You go out there and you stand on the Wrath crest and keep your head on straight until things get figured out. Hold your mental breakdown until you get someplace private unless you want those other contestants to eat you alive."

The blonde snapped back to reality at the stinging contact on his cheek. He nodded as he listened to the demons directions. Deep breathe. He slowly stood and took off the hexed cloak Itachi had lent him, handing it over to Shisui.

"You got this. Don't worry, we'll figure out exactly what's going on." He gave a small thumbs up and watched Naruto make his way down the aisle, towards the arena floor.

Gasps and murmurs broke out as he descended the steps and entered the field. He only caught partial sentences of what they were exclaiming about. Things like spitting image, and High Lord Wrath kept being tossed around. The rest was a jumble of voices as he felt all eyes now on him. Sasuke looked like he wanted to throw up, but refrained from any commentary as Naruto finally stood on the last empty crest in the line up. He glanced up at Itachi in his balcony, who had an unreadable expression masking his face for the time being. Many other sins excitedly observed him as well, chattering about the turn of events. A few like Sloth and Lust simply raised their brows in a slight intrigue at him. He looked over to the mysterious unphased demon from before, only to find those intense green eyes fixed on the blonde. The gaze was piercing, and caused Naruto to shift uncomfortably yet he couldn't look away from the stare he was caught in. He was momentarily mesmerized, until the redhead turned and disappeared into his balcony, out of Naruto's sight.

"What rollercoaster of excitement we have experienced tonight! Citizens of hell, may I introduce to you our official contestant lineup! Give them a gracious round of applause everyone." The host had taken over the microphone yet again as roars and cheers erupted from the stands. The crowd seemed to love the added drama. It gave them something to talk about for the next few months, and of course everyone was curious as to the Wrath participant that nobody seemed to know about.

"Thank you all for joining us this evening! Be sure to tune in to the nightly news for tournament updates with me as they prepare for the competition to come. Again I'm Guy, and it's been a pleasure having such great exuberant energy tonight! Good night Hell!" The announcer continued to bounce as the chosen seven were ushered off the arena floor and into a large hallway where the reapers waited.

"What the hell?!" Sasuke let out in a harsh whisper.

"This is just a huge mistake. It has to be." Naruto's voice shook as his mind raced, trying to rationalize what just happened.

"The Flame of Fate doesn't make mistakes."

"Everyone makes mistakes. There's no way… I- I can't be-.." He failed to complete his thought. There was so much confusion and emotion clouding his mind that creating complete sentences was becoming difficult.

The small reaper cleared his throat, "Congratulations, you have been given a great honor. You will be taken to meet with your respective High Lords shortly, but before that I wanted to make sure you do not need clarification of the rules. We will be checking in with you on a monthly basis during your preparation period. Are there any questions about the rules we explained during the ceremony?"

"Yeah, so we can kill each other if we want to right?" A short half demon spoke as she adjusted her glasses and ran her fingers through her bright red hair.

"Only during one of the seven tasks. You are not allowed to engage in physical conflict with each other outside of the actual tasks." Zabuza narrowed his eyes at the female figure, noting she was excited at the prospect of killing. The gluttony candidate who asked the question pouted at the response but didn't argue it further.

"Any other questions?"

"I-I think there's been some mistake…" Naruto finally spoke up drawing the eyes of everyone in the room.

"Ah, yes the Namikaze boy. You'll come with us, we need to clarify a few things before hand with you. Uchiha as well." Haku motioned for them to approach and stand by him while Zabuza addressed the others with their final remarks.

"The rest of you stretch out your left hand in front of you, palms up. You are all about to enter into a reaper contract for the duration of your training and tournament time. Any violations of the rules will be made known and will result in disqualification along with other repercussions as we deem fit. Do you all acknowledge and agree to adhere to the tournament rules?" The tall, shirtless demon watched the small group nod in response.

"Be bound by your admission." He spoke through the bandages that covered his face, his voice heavy with the slight tremor of power. Dark sigils appeared on each of the six up facing palms, sealing their contracts. Haku waved in a familiar demon once his partner had finished with the agreements. The tall blue skinned figure exchanged polite greeting with them before turning to acknowledge the group before him.

"Good evening. As most of you know I am the Leviathan, liaison between the Order and the Seven Sins. As such I will also be keeping a close eye on the happenings of the trials. The current Sins in power will arrive shortly to take you to see your High Lord. Please wait for them here." He turned to the pair of reapers and nodded.

They followed, ushering the half breeds along as well. Naruto looked back with uncertainty at Sasuke who simply frowned as they were led away. They entered a small, dimly lit conference room and asked them to take a seat at the end of the long table while they deliberated in hushed tones. Naruto inhaled, calming himself and trying to remember what Shisui had told him about not having a mental breakdown until he was in private. Was this private enough? Maybe. But he denied himself the thought of going into meltdown mode in a room with unfamiliar demons.

"Um.. So, I think this is all just some sort of misunderstanding. I'm..uhh- I'm not even supposed to be here…" Naruto finally managed to steel his nerves long enough to get a sentence out.

Zabuza gave a small chuckle "The Mother of Fates doesn't make those kind of mistakes kid. I don't know what part of hell you came from but you're here now and you've been chosen."

A ring from the Leviathans phone sounded and he quickly answered the call, walking to the opposite side of the room. Haku produced a long needle and held an outstretched hand to the seated man. Blue eyes flashed in question between the two reapers at the sight of the sharp object.

"Since neither of you weren't originally nominated you didn't go through the bloodline confirmation like the rest of the competitors. We just need to confirm your bloodline for the records. It'll just be a small prick on your thumb, you won't even feel it." the tall demon tried to reassure but he could still see the contestant was hesitant to comply.

"As a half breed you have abnormally fast healing abilities. A simple finger prick is really nothing compared to the things you can heal from."Sasuke finally spoke, his frown now gone and replaced with a bored tone.

Haku removed his mask revealing his delicate face, with flawless features and a gentle smile. Naruto was momentarily shocked that the small beautiful being was actually a reaper. Haku reached out and took Naruto's hand, sticking the thumb with the long needle and letting the blood gather on the tip of the tanned skin. Zabuza huffed slightly and grumbled about the fact that the blonde was gawking a little too much as he opened a small ancient book to an empty page for his partner to record the bloody fingerprint. They waited as the blood dried and demonic text appeared next to the red mark.

Haku read off the page, soft eyes lit with mild intrigue."Son of the High Lord Wrath, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki."

"So, Lord Wrath had a brat afterall. Who knew. Welcome to the trials." Zabuza mocked as the small reaper repeated the fingerprint process with Sasuke.

"Son of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha, Descendant of High Lord Pride, Madara Uchiha." He shut the small book and placed it within the folds of his robe, not surprised at the Uchiha's lineage.

"It seems that Pride is a little tied up with the Wrath Lords at the moment. I'll be taking Sasuke and the Namikaze kid to see their Hierarchies instead." Kisame had returned and inquired if the reapers had just about finished their part.

"I have a name you know."

Kisame shrugged, unfazed by the obvious annoyance of the half breed. The reapers guided the two through the contract, much to Naruto's displeasure. A kick under the table from the Uchiha had kept him from fighting it, so he sat there and let the dark inky mark appear on his hand that signified his agreement to adhere to the rules. Afterwards they followed the Leviathan to his car and began making their way to some unknown destination. Uncomfortable silence filled the space between the two half breeds, both wanting to address the situation but unsure of what to say.

Naruto finally broke the silence. "Talk about a fucked up day."

"Naruto…" Sasuke sighed heavily.

"Like really, I should have known the minute I woke up late and missed my train that it was a sign to just go the fuck back to bed."

"Well if it's any consolation to you, there's a ninety five percent chance that you didn't end up summoning Itachi by accident." Kisame chimed in watching the pair from the rear view mirror.

The blonde faltered. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it. You end up summoning him on the day of the selection ceremony so he really has no choice but to bring you here, which in turn was the final shove Sasuke needed to come back as well and it turns out you are the son of an original Cardinal Sin. Doesn't that sound a little too planned out to be just pure bad luck?" the blue demon had obviously been thinking about this situation.

Sasuke nodded in agreement. "So who do you think planned it?"

"Itachi has some theories, but he needs to verify some information before he can narrow it down. In the meantime you need to stay out of trouble and focus on training." The last part of the sentence was directed at both half breeds.

"Easier said than done. You're not the one who's been living a lie your whole life." Naruto clenched his fists and pointedly turned to stare out the window.

Silence. Naruto continued to let himself focus on the scenery out the window for the remainder of the ride as they finally pulled up to an enormous estate with the ever familiar fan symbol on the wrought iron gates. Sasuke let out a small sound of exasperation, obviously dreading his reunion with his family. A slight tinge of concern pulled at Naruto's heart as he watched his ex mentally prepare himself for whatever was waiting for him behind those doors.

"Good luck." Naruto meant it, there was no hidden anger or mocking in his words. He knew the strained relationship Sasuke had with his family and understood the anxiety he hid beneath his mask of indifference.

"Thanks." Onyx eyes turned back to look at the blonde for a moment, taking in his words as if some magical strength lied in them. "Let me know… if you've adjusted. Or- or if you need help" Sasuke choked out slightly before clearing his throat. Naruto nodded, unsure if he'd actually reach out to Sasuke, but the thought of having it as an option was comforting.

"Welcome home Sasuke." The Uchiha stated grimly to himself before shutting the car door and giving small wave. He paused, letting himself become a cold and emotionless person once more.

The blonde waved back and watched Sasuke climb the stairs and disappear into the large wooden doors that had now opened for him. Kisame drove off now that Sasuke had entered the mansion, knowing well he was on his own in there. They drove again in silence, which Naruto was now not thankful for. Without his ex present to fuel his anger the silence left him to thoughts the blonde didn't really want to deal with. They were not pleasant or clear and he knew he was so close to breaking down but the night was not over yet and he still had yet to meet this High Lord who claimed to be his father. He focused on staring out the window. He could get through this, just like he got through everything else life threw at him.

Gaara's brain was working overtime. The unexpected turn of events in the selection ceremony had all of his division in a panic. Tenmari was on the phone shouting orders to the PR advocates while simultaneously sending off emails to various departments who seemed to be losing their shit over the news. The Sin let his assistant take care of delegating orders and keeping his employees from having a meltdown, his mind was on the High Lord Wrath and how the fuck his biological son found his way into hell in the first place. He had seen the man's face, no mistaking it was Naruto. The same blue eyes as Minato had stared back at him, mixed with equal parts shock and confusion. A familiar dark figure approached him before he could make it halfway down the hall.

"Commander." Gaara nodded as Itachi approached him. The muffled sound of the audience's excitement sounded in the distance as the ceremony was over and demons began filtering out of the stadium.

Pride wasted no time in getting to the point. "That man was Minato's child?"

"Yes." He found it oddly curious that the Uchiha was so interested in the Namikaze.

"Are you positive?"

"Yes. Why are you so invested in this information Itachi?" Wrath narrowed his eyes wondering what Pride had to do with the current situation.

Pride frowned and pulled out his cell phone to make a call. "I brought him to hell today, I was unaware of his blood status of course-" He cut off as the person he dialed answered.

"Leviathan, you are going to have to take Sasuke to see Madara. I have a feeling Wrath will want to have a word with me. Might as well take Naruto too, I'm not sure if Gaara will make it in time."

Gaara scowled at his supervisor, although it wouldn't be the first time. Itachi just meddled in something his foster father had worked hard to keep quiet. Minato was going to have a meltdown if he hadn't already.

"What do you mean you brought him here?" Gaara interrogated the minute Pride hung up the phone.

The taller demon began explaining. "He summoned me this afternoon, I was under the impression that he was full mortal. I didn't have time to hash out a deal with him panicking about demons being real, so I brought him with me. The plan was to get him back tonight and make the deal. However all of that has been chucked out the window given the current situation."

"That's a terrible plan to try and bring a mortal here in the first place. Secondly, the fact that he was able to summon you didn't raise flags about his potential heritage?" The redhead chided. He was the only Sin that could get away with reprimanding him.

"I was under a time constraint. It was the best thing I could come up with and he only mentioned his mother had the sight. I figured he did too which was the reason for him being able to summon me."

"Minato is going to lose his shit." Gaara sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Why did the High Lord hide the fact that he had a son?"

"It's a long story. He really shouldn't be here though-" He was interrupted this time by his own cell phone.

"Minato"

"Where are you?"

"Headed to the executive box."

"No, meet me outside. They won't let me see him, the reapers took him to do that blood confirmation thing and Kakashi wouldn't let me interrupt it."

"Calm down. I'll be right there. Don't go anywhere."

Gaara noticed the heightened panic in Minato's voice as he spoke on the phone. At this point trying to keep him from tearing hell apart was Gaara's main concern. He turned to Itachi and glared pointedly.

"You should probably explain this to the High Lord."  
"Obviously. However I think he might be the one in need of explaining to me why this was kept secret for so long." Pride arched a brow challenging Gaara to disagree.

Wrath shrugged. "That's his business to tell you or not."

Itachi snorted and grabbed for Gaara's shoulder to turn him back around. "Listen, you're smart. Tell me something, doesn't all of this just seem to be playing out a little too well?"

The redhead paused and gave a wary glance at Pride instantly understanding what the underlying suspicion was. Indeed Wrath was having similar gut feelings about it, especially after what Shizune had mentioned as well. The redhead ignored his desire to further respond and turned to search for Minato. They quickly made their way outside to try and find where the elder demon was. Gaara spotted a familiar long white cloak right outside the area. The bold wrath crest embroidered on the back of the formal clothing stood out against the contrasting color, and striking blonde hair and blue eyes easily setting it apart from the other High Lords. Gaara noted Itachi seeing his husband from the corner of his eye and motioned for him to follow them as well.

"How did this happen?" Minato looked pleadingly at the redhead as they approached, hoping he would have some insight.

"Ask him." Gaara pointedly glared at the Uchiha next to him.

"Itachi?"

"Apologies, but it seems to be my fault. I brought your son to hell."

Minato sprung forward surprising all those around him. He grabbed Pride by the collar of his shirt and slamming him into the concrete wall. There was no mistake at the ferocity in his eyes as he spoke in a commanding tone. "Explain"

"Hey, get your hands off him." Shisui began, scowling at the way his husband was being held.

"Minato, take it easy." Gaara began to intervene as he felt the swirl of the wrathful power begin to emit from the blonde demon. Minato cloak began to sway with the force of his energy. If the High Lord didn't get himself under control half of hell would be destroyed in a matter of seconds. A small crowd had gathered to watch the confrontation between the powerful beings, gasping as they felt the tremor of danger and began stepping back.

Itachi's eyes flared red, giving the older demon warning to back down. "You don't want to threaten me, Lord Wrath."

The wall Itachi was held against began to crumble and the entire stadium trembled at the power the two demons were releasing.

"'Tachi. This isn't the best time or place for a pissing contest." Shisui gave a nervous glance at his husband, hoping he would be wise enough to not start a fight with a High Lord tonight.

Gaara approached his elder and grabbed one of Minato's wrists, his other hand placed firmly on the blonde's chest in a clear attempt to get him to back down. Green eyes locking onto heavy rage filled eyes. He knew the reasoning behind never revealing he had an heir, and he knew how much it had hurt the demon to not be a part of Naruto's life. He knew Minato had to strip his son of all memories of his father and that broke him, even if he did it to protect his child. He understood the conflict in Minato's heart at the events that transpired and the questions he must have, but he also understood the rage of all his efforts to shield his son from this world were now in vain.

"Minato, don't..." Gaara gave a firm shove, successfully detaching the two.

"Fine. We can discuss this later. Right now I need to see to my son." Minato finally bit out, fists clenched at his sides but the emission of demonic power had ceased as he struggled for control over his emotions.

"Given the situation, you might want to wait until he settles things with Naruto to try and talk to him." The hushed tone came from Shisui and was directed at his husband. Itachi dusted off the bits of concrete that had landed on his shoulders. Shisui grabbed his husband by the elbow and worked to try and drag him to the car. Itachi waved him off and gave Gaara a nod indicating he understood the High Lord in question was in a very tough spot emotionally, Minato was usually never hostile without logical reason.

"Let's go. They'll be taking Naruto to your place soon." Gaara watched the dark haired demons walk off. The Sin turned and gave a threatening look at the mass of demons and halflings that had been nervously watching the disturbance. They quickly dispersed at the sight of the Sin's directed glare, scrambling to clear the area.

Minato nodded, agreeing to meet Gaara at his home outside the city. What a mess, the sin began assessing the situation again looking for the best course of action. It was clear there seemed to be another hand at work. Itachi had mentioned that things were falling into place a little too conveniently for it to be brushed off as mere coincidence. Shizune had also mentioned that something felt off between the realms, and Gaara had a feeling it had a lot to do with Minato's son. Investigating it would be a good place to start, except now he was also going to be busy with training the half breed in question. Given what Minato had disclosed to him as well in regards to the dangers of his son coming to hell, someone would have to keep an eye on Naruto. There was now a level of potential danger that could come to Minato's son and he knew the High Lord would ask him to watch the halfling at least until they could figure out what was going on. Gaara's only worry was that Minato's son was going to be a bigger challenge than he would be able to deal with.

Minato paced across the private study in his home. Panic had begun to rise in his chest as he began to wonder exactly how his son would react. He's going to remember everything I had wiped his mind of as a kid. Shit, shit, shit. The demon tried to gauge how angry Naruto would be once he saw his father's face and all the lost memories came back to him. If his son were anything like Kushina then chances are he'd be livid. They had decided to keep the demon half of Naruto's life a secret in an attempt to protect him, so the memories were altered every time Minato would visit. Of course, the only flaw when one's mind had been messed with multiple times, the effect would come undone at the sight of the manipulator. The tall blonde wrung his hands as the various levels of uncertainty washed over him. Of all the wars and angelic hordes he had faced in his long existence, nothing had been able to unnerve him quite like this.

"Gaara, promise me you will look after him. You know the dangers of him being here. You have to promise me you'll train him well and keep watch over him in the meantime." Minato turned to face the figure leaning against the doorway.

"Yes. However you owe him an explanation. You are aware of that right?"

The demon faltered, not able to say anything and nodded in response instead. He knew Gaara was right and he hoped that Naruto would at least hear him out, but he had a feeling it wouldn't be as simple as that. He pressed his fingertips to his temples and shut his eyes tightly as if that would magically give him the answer on how to approach this. He was finally able to collect himself as he heard a car pull up to his driveway. He was here, this was it.

"I'll see him in."

He watched the demon disappear to open the door. Minato moved to the window and pulled aside the curtain to watch a man with messy blonde hair exit the dark vehicle. A look of wariness was on his face as he moved towards the house. Minato picked up a familiar picture frame from the window sill, sliding his fingers over the image of a smiling woman. Kushina, we fucked up. Please help me do right by our son now. I need to fix this.

Gaara's voice broke him from his silent petition. "Minato"

The High Lord set the photo back down and turned to face the set of bright blue eyes that had entered the room. He watched his son quirk a brow in confusion before eyes widened with realization. The memories should be hitting him like a train wreck about now, and Minato felt himself flinch as he heard a short gasp from his son. Naruto looked away, obviously trying to catch up with his own mind.

"Give me a moment with my son." Minato spoke to the figure looming in the dark doorway.

The sound of footsteps retreating signified they were now alone. Naruto still wouldn't look at him. He drew out a long breath, he had always wondered what his son's reaction would be if they ever met. He knew he would have remembered everything by now, all the memories that were altered would have come flooding back to him the minute Naruto saw his father's face.

"Naruto…" Minato broke the silence.

There was no response from his son. His gaze still set on anything but the demon. Silent tears had begun trickling down Naruto's face, assured that the lost memories had clicked back into place and the mental fog was now lifted from his mind.

"I'm sorry." He offered, he wasn't sure how to start. He moved forward to try and place a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Don't touch me." Naruto finally spoke, voice breaking as he swatted the older figures hand away angrily.

Minato took a small step back as blue eyes filled with rage set on him, something inside his son had been finally released. An emotional wall that stood tall and strong for so many years came crashing down in that instant. The anger and hurt from years of turmoil was set free and with it a small slip of dangerous demonic power that Minato found unexpected.

"Sorry? You're fucking sorry? All these years and all you have to say to me is sorry?!" Naruto's fist collided with the demons stomach throwing him back into the wall. Minato was caught off guard at the strength in the punch. He doubled over onto his knees, winded from the hit. He sensed Naruto approach and looked up at him.

"You took away my memories!" Another fist collided with Minato's jaw.

"Precious times with you and mom!" A knee plowed into his stomach.

"Where were you when mom died and I was taken.." Naruto aimed another punch at Minato's face.

"And beaten!?" Blood spilled from Minato's lip as the fist made impact.

"I went through things no child should ever have to go through!" Tears spilled from Naruto as he continued his assault.

"WHERE WERE YOU!?" The words echoed in Minato's head as his heart broke listening to his son's sobs between blows to his face and chest. He stayed kneeling on the ground, allowing his child to work out his rage.

A hand caught Naruto's arm before it could barrel into his father's bloody face again.

"Enough." A voice came from behind the blonde.

Naruto spun around aiming an elbow at the figure behind him. It was blocked and the young half mortal was face to face with Gaara.

"Stay out of this, it doesn't involve you." The blonde gave warning. The Sin tightened his grip on the arm.

"I said enough." Striking green eyes stared down at him. Naruto stared back, still reeling from the confrontation with his father. The Sins face softened slightly, a silent understanding before releasing his arm and turning to attend to Minato.

The halfbreed glanced at his father's beaten face, realizing the damage he caused during his fury. He wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand and exited the room. Gaara watched him go in his peripheral vision.

"Naruto…" Minato spoke as he heard his son leave.

"Give him some space" the redhead advised.

The older demon sighed, knowing Gaara was right. He accepted the hand before him and felt himself being gently pulled to his feet. There wasn't any permanent damage since demons healed quickly, but his face was a bloody mess. It would take a full day or so to heal completely.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up."


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto looked out at the vast mountain range as he leaned over the balcony railing. The breeze dried the remainder of the tears that had continued to trickle down his face. Never in his life did he think he would get to meet his father, and he was certain if he did he was past the point of caring. I guess I was wrong. He looked down at his bloody knuckles thinking back to how Minato just knelt there, accepting the beating. Naruto had lost control of his emotions, something he had feared doing for a long time. The blonde was always so careful about keeping his pain in check, always making sure to hide it with a joke and a smile. After looking at his father's face and hearing an attempted apology, the careful emotional wall holding back his anger and pain collapsed and everything came rushing through. Today was a fucking shitshow of crazy, he allowed himself to break this time.

Gaara approached the balcony, seeming to know Naruto would need time to clear his head. He paused at the entrance to the open space and folded his arms across his chest letting his body rest against the door frame as he watched the blonde who was in deep thought. Nothing about this situation was ideal for any of them. Naruto tried to feel angry again but it died out and had turned into confusion mixed with an empty feeling in his chest. Anger would only take him so far and at the end of the day it would always be just a cover for whatever underlying emotional turmoil was happening in him. He needed to focus on what was happening now. Naruto was in hell and had to participate in the trials no matter how unprepared he was for it. He gave a nervous side glance at the demon watching him. As if on cue Wrath sighed, eyes fixed on the young man.

"Is he ok?" a voice finally came from the half breed.

"Physically, he'll be fine." Gaara responded meeting the young man's face that had turned back to look at him briefly. Naruto nodded, and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he now stood in the middle of the balcony.

"I was supposed to go back home tonight, but I'm guessing that's not going to happen..." He trailed off, shuffling his feet anxiously.

The redhead continued to observe Minato's son understanding the request he was trying to make. "You have attachments on the mortal plane?"

"Yeah, a few. I don't want them to worry too much." Blue eyes glanced back up, the rage from before was gone, replaced by sorrow. It wasn't unusual for Naruto to be gone in the evenings, he worked night shifts restocking but if he didn't return the next day his roommates would start to worry.

"I'll take you first thing in the morning." Wrath pushed himself off the door frame and stood in a swift motion.

"Thank you." Naruto followed the Sin as he walked back through his father's house.

"It's been a long day, and you need to sleep. We'll deal with all of this later." Gaara gestured to the direction down the hall where no doubt, Minato was. Wrath scooped up a set of keys that were laying on the table by the front door and motioned for the blonde to follow him outside.

"Where are we going? I thought you said I needed to sleep?" Naruto shut the front door behind him as he exited the house and jogged after the Sin.

"I'm in charge of your training for the trials, so you'll be staying with me. Unless of course, you'd prefer to stay at your father's…" Gaara arched a brow in question, waiting for a decision.

"Yeah, I don't think I'm ready to deal with that just yet." the blonde admitted.

Gaara turned and continued on his course to the driveway. They approached a sleek black motorcycle, Naruto's heart skipped a beat. All his life he had depended on public transportation to get him around. The idea of a motorcycle made him anxious, there would be nothing stopping him from flying off to his death if they crashed.

"Have you ever been on a motorcycle before?" The sin mounted his bike and it revved to life. Naruto shook his head, amazed that the vehicle was relatively silent other than the low purr of the motor.

"Here, put this on." Wrath shoved a red helmet into the blonde's hands. Naruto obeyed and slung his leg over the back of the bike, finding himself flush against the redhead.

"Just hold on tight and you should be fine." the sin mentioned before taking off.

The half breed was thrust backward at the pickup of speed and instinctively wrapped his arms around Gaara's waist, holding tight. Wrath was still in his uniform from the ceremony, minus the cloak. Naruto felt the tight muscles in his torso beneath the thin shirt and refrained from letting his fingers trail over them. Naruto let his eyes wander, observing the sleeves of the garment had been pushed up to reveal the demons forearms covered in intricate ink. He was thankful for the full face helmet and tinted visor that hid the blush that was creeping onto his face. Admittedly the main reason he was initially attracted to any of his past boyfriends and girlfriends was the air of rebelliousness they all seemed to have in common. Whether in the way they dressed or the way the acted, Naruto was a sucker for the "brooding bad boy" archetype. He closed his eyes, trying not to focus on the feel of the body his arms were wrapped around. Instead he took in the sensation of everything zooming past him. It was a frightening yet liberating feeling to be flying through roads so freely. Naruto now understood why some people enjoyed this over cars, they were addicted to the high from riding a motorcycle.

Gaara sped through the streets on the outskirts of the thriving metropolis and entered a speedway that would take them back into the main part of the city. Naruto clung a little tighter as they sped up and weaved through the late night traffic. He felt the demon chuckle at the motion, obviously amused at his reaction. Naruto's face flushed again as he realized he was holding on a little too tightly and loosened his grasp just a bit. Wrath drove with a reckless precision, through the pack of cars before them shaking his head in annoyance and accelerated even more, as he passed several vehicles that were going to slow for his liking, flipping them off as he zoomed by. This of course caused his passenger to engage his drivers torso in a death grip as they flew well past 100 mph. This time Naruto didn't hesitate to cling to the demon than risk flying off the bike in the middle of a freeway. They finally exited the main roadway and turned into the city streets, eventually coming to a stoplight. Gaara placed a hand on one of the arms that was wrapped around him and gently tugged at it as he turned his head to address the man behind him.

"I forgot to mention I drive a little fast, I promise I'll take it slow through the city. Could you loosen up just a bit though? I would like to be able to breathe again." a smirk played on his face as he felt Naruto's arms loosen significantly.

"Sorry" the muffled voice came through the helmet before the light turned green and they were off again.

True to his word, Gaara took it easy through the streets heading further into the downtown area. It still amazed Naruto how similar everything was to New York within the city. The neon lights illuminated the various bars and clubs with hoards of demons and dark creatures lined up to gain admittance into the buildings in the popular area. They continued past the busy nightlife and eventually entered into a part that he found very reminiscent of the Upper East Side. The driver parked on the curb, in front of a tall apartment building and turned around to signal for the blonde to dismount.

"What did you think?" the redhead asked as he watched Naruto struggle to get his balance again.

"It's fast…. But not as loud as I thought it would be" Naruto finally spoke, slipping out of the helmet.

Gaara handed the key of his motorcycle to the valet that stood in front of the door. "It's the model of bike and the size of the exhaust pipes. This one isn't designed to be obnoxiously loud. I have a few others that are louder, faster and more powerful."

"Uhhh, faster? Yeah, count me out on those ones." the younger figure obviously had enough of a near death experience for one day. The sin gave a small smirk at the comment.

"Good evening Sir." The valet greeted as he took the key and went to go park the demons bike.

The sin led the way into the luxurious apartment building and walked up to the front desk. "Kankuro, this is Naruto. He will be staying with me for the duration of the trials." The hooded demon looked over at the half breed that stood next to Gaara.

"I saw the ceremony, I'm aware of who he is Gaara. You're seriously going to train him?"

"At the request of the High Lord…" the sin deadpanned.

Kankuro sneered "You've got a lot of work ahead of you. Good luck."

"Thank you for this enlightening conversation." Wrath turned to the elevator scoffing his response.

"Remember the meeting tomorrow." the head of Wrath's personal security trailed off as the pair stepped into the elevator. Gaara absently waved his hand in aggravation as the doors closed. He inserted a key and pushed a button for the top floor, the elevator began ascending.

"He doesn't seem to have faith that I'll make it through the tournament." Naruto let his remark hang in the air as he slouched against the elevator wall.

Gaara carefully considered his words, looking directly at the nominee."I'm going to be brutally honest with you for a moment here, nobody does."

"Ouch." he glanced down at his shoes becoming uncomfortable at the raw honesty.

Green eyes continued to stare at Naruto. "If you want someone to lie to you to make you feel better about yourself, then you need to find someone else to train you. You have to go into this knowing exactly what you're facing. Your father was trying to protect you from things like this, it's a difficult set of tests designed to break you in every way. Everyone else has at least a few decades of training in. You are jumping into this with no preparation whatsoever. The chances of you dying are extremely high."

The blonde cringed at his words but knew it was the truth. He looked back up to face Gaara. "I realize that." he said softly as he found Wrath's gaze.

"I will do everything in my power to prepare you for this and make sure you at least have a fighting chance." He kept his eye contact steady, watching Naruto search for something in his words.

The sound of the elevator door opening pulled them from their conversation and Gaara grabbed his keys and exited into the entryway of his loft. "Shoes off please." Gaara sat on a small bench by the entrance and began to untie his uniform combat boots.

The half mortal took in the pristine state of the apartment. "You're a bit of a clean freak, you know that?"

"So I've been told." Wrath guided him across the dark wooden floor into the living area showing the enormous open concept stylized loft.

"Living room, kitchen, dining and training area are down here. Bedrooms, bathroom and office are up there." He pointed to a metal staircase that protruded a ways into the kitchen.

Naruto wandered into the dining area to glimpse out one of the windows that faced the front of the building, being careful not to knock off any of the cacti sitting on the sill. The view was almost better than Pride's office. They were a block from an enormous park. The trees twinkled with lights and fountains changed colors every so often.

"So you own the entire top floor?" He turned back and followed the sin into the kitchen.

"I own the entire building, but I offer housing to some of my employees that are struggling." Gaara opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water. He offered one to Naruto. On cue the blonde's stomach growled, reminding him that all he had to eat today was a granola bar before he rushed to work. He blushed, slightly embarrassed as the redhead turned to glance at Naruto.

"I was about to ask if you were hungry. What would you like to eat? If I don't have it here we can order some take out." the sin opened the fridge again to see what he had.

"Umm... Anything I guess. I like noodles a lot."

Wrath nodded and began pulling out various vegetables from the crisper. "Pad Thai? Fair warning, I prepare my food unconventionally spicy." Gaara spoke as he fixed his rolled up sleeves and washed his hands.

"I'm good with spicy. Wait, you know how to make Pad Thai?" Naruto was a horrible cook, his roommate Tenten had been teaching him how to make simple things like boiling water and steamed rice in a rice cooker. Other than that, anything that involved more than three ingredients he always managed to fuck up.

"Why is that a surprise?" the sin prepared the rice noodles before dicing the tofu and some assorted vegetables.

"You just don't strike me as someone who enjoys cooking." he shrugged and took a seat on a bar stool across the counter, watching the older figure now chopping scallions and garlic.

"Think of it this way, you get to handle really sharp knives and really hot fire. What's not to enjoy?" He stabbed the knife into the wooden cutting board as if to make a point.

Naruto laughed at the response. They sat in comfortable silence as Gaara finished cooking their meal. He served the blonde a plate and fixed one for himself.  
The half breed melted at the taste of the food. "Is there anything you aren't good at?" Wrath gave a small grunt in response as he watched the man practically inhale the food. Homemade food…. He hadn't had a hot delicious homemade meal since his mom passed. Naruto fought the sentiment rising as he devoured his meal, he refused to let himself break a second time tonight. They finished eating and the demon led them upstairs.

"You can take the last room on the left. There are extra blankets and pillows in the chest at the foot of the bed if you need. I'll bring you some clothes you can use." Gaara turned and went back down to clean up the kitchen.

There was no door to the loft bedroom but there were walls that offered enough privacy, Naruto decided. The full sized bed looked soft and inviting, especially now that his exhaustion was setting in. He stripped from his clothes and found the bathroom that was attached to his room and eagerly turned on the shower, willing for the water to heat up faster. His mind began to wander, thinking back on all the bullshit he had gone through in just one day. Just my fucking luck. He head had begun to throb with pain from the stress. The blonde needed to stop thinking, worrying about his situation was not going to change anything right now. He tried his best to shut off his emotions and let his mind focus on the sound of the running water as he stepped in and let himself take in the heat of the water on his body.

Much later after the water was finally shut off and he was wrapped in a towel, he relaxed on the bed. He stared at a pile of clothes that were now there, and noticed his dirty ones had been picked up and placed in a hamper by the closet. He made a mental note to try and be more mindful about where he left his stuff and not make a mess. There was a pair of navy sweatpants and a soft cotton t-shirt neatly folded, he pulled the clothes onto his body and made an effort to toss the used towel into the hamper. The blonde collapsed against the pillow, not even bothering to slip under the covers. He forced his mind to shut off and fell into a deep sleep within a few minutes.  
_

"Look out!" Itachi shouted amid the chaos. Hordes of demons scrambled for cover in the stands of the large stadium, crying out in terror as explosions filled the air with dust and debris. Sloth bolted past followed by a pack of enormous hound like creatures, shouting in a language the blonde couldn't quite understand. The beasts fell into formation flanking the masked demon, viciously growling and snarling as they waited for the command to attack.

"I should have known you'd be the one behind all of this." Kakashi raged as the dust continued to swirl around the shadow of a figure that appeared. The rest of the sins ran onto the field instructing their successors to help evacuate the stadium. The blonde took a step forward trying to see who was hidden in the cloud of dust just as an arm appeared across his chest stopping him in his tracks.

"Naruto, go with the others." Gaara ordered, his tone not leaving room for a discussion on the matter. He continued blocking the half breed from moving any closer to the battle about to happen.

"What's going on? Where am I?" Naruto panicked, everything was fine just a few hours ago. Well not fine, he had been dragged into hell, found out he was half demon, thrown into a death match and finally met his father. But he was in a comfy bed last he remembered, this didn't make sense. He rubbed his eyes, trying to shake the blurry vision and ringing in his ears. His body felt hot and sweat broke out on his brow as his breath became short and ragged. "What's happening?" There was so much shouting, his head spun with the confusion trying to understand the situation.

A deep voice broke through the noise, addressing the redhead. "I'm sorry, but he's going to be coming with me. You have no idea how long I've waited for the Kyubbi to reincarnate." several other shadows appeared, joining the traitor hidden in the haze. "Now then, I think it's time we woke up the great fox demon."

"Get down" Gaara tackled him as vicious winged beasts rapidly jolted toward them, flying low to the ground and aimed a heavenly light at the demons. Rubble blasted through the field, nearly missing Envy. Mayhem ensued as Sloth led his charge of demonic beasts and Pride fended off a few of the spindly winged creatures aiming for the back of Kakashi's head. Naruto rolled over and wobbled to his feet watching dumbfoundedly as the sins clashed head on, clearly outnumbered and unprepared for the situation at hand.

"Run!" Wrath shouted and shoved the blonde as another beam of light made impact right next to him and threw them 20 feet in the air.

Naruto sat up shouting, heart pounding in his chest. Just a dream. He looked at his trembling hands and tried to calm his breathing. Fucking stress, it was all just a terrible dream...

"What happened?" Wrath appeared in the doorway and noticed the half breeds quickened breath and shaking hands.

His heart sank to his stomach at the realization, that last bit was just a dream but he was still very much in hell. "Just a weird dream" the younger man claimed and gave a nervous chuckle.

"I see." The demon observed him just a second longer before speaking again. "Breakfast is ready. Come eat." He disappeared with that command.

Naruto washed his face in effort to calm himself. Convinced the nightmare was brought on by the immense amount of stress and emotional turmoil, he breathed in deep. He returned to the bedroom and changed into his clothes that were now in a clean folded pile on the chest at the foot of the bed. Gaara must have washed them last night. Did he even sleep? He looked in the long mirror mounted on the bathroom wall at his dark denim pants and soft baseball tee. He continued staring at his reflection for a minute before forcing a smile on his face until it became believable, followed by a small whisper 'Keep it together. Don't let them see you break." It was his everyday ritual since 7th grade, his small self reminder to stay strong and refuse to fall apart before having to face the world.

"Help yourself" Gaara typed furiously on his laptop, an empty plate sat at the dining table beside him as he worked.

The smell of eggs and bacon caused his stomach to rumble as he descended the metal staircase into the kitchen. He served himself and took the chair across the sin. They sat in silence for a moment as the redhead continued to work. Naruto began eating, not remembering when the last time he actually had a full breakfast was. He never really had actual meals much through middle school or high school other than what the cafeteria offered and chances of it being edible were about fifty fifty. Sometimes he or one of the other foster kids would be able to work an odd job and have enough money and buy sandwich stuff or frozen meals for everyone to share, but that was about it. Even now, after three years of living with his roommates he would often be so busy balancing two jobs and school that he was lucky if he remembered to grab something before he left for the day. Instant ramen was a lifesaver when he would get home and have an hour to shower before running to his night stock job at midnight, and even then sometimes he'd be in such a rush that he'd forget to eat all together.

"So… What's the plan for today?" The blonde spoke before taking another bite.

"We will only have a few hours to be in the mortal realm. I'm hoping that is sufficient time for you to explain and pack whatever you need. I have a meeting at one and then I will spend the rest of the afternoon training you." the demon answered as Naruto ate.

"How many hours exactly?" He asked between mouthfuls of food.

Gaara glanced at his watch. "Three"

"Let's go" the half breed stuffed the remainder of his food in his mouth as he picked up his finished plate and set it in the sink, eager to go home even if it was just for a few hours. He needed something familiar to help him process yesterday's crazy events.

Gaara blinked for a moment at the impatience of the half mortal before finally closing his computer and standing. He reached for a deep maroon hoodie that hung over the back of his chair and pulled it over his head, black shirt rising as his arms lifted showing off the toned muscles that hid beneath. Naruto blushed at the small glimpse and quickly turned his head in hopes that he wouldn't get caught staring. The demon moved to the bench by the door and put on the dark combat boots from the night before, tucking in the ends of his jeans before lacing them up. Naruto followed and slipped into his beaten up chucks, he had no jacket as he was taken straight from his shoddy apartment bedroom in Chinatown. He would have to deal with the nippy fall weather as he was.

"Here" Wrath shoved a black leather jacket in his direction as he stood.

"Oh, thanks!" He gave a large grin as he took the coat and shrugged it on. It fit him well, and smelled like the demon, a mixture of cedarwood and lemongrass. Naruto fought against the heat that he felt begin to spread across his face at the scent that had now engulfed him. He turned to watch Gaara place an outstretched hand towards an engraved sigil on the closed elevator doors of his loft.

"What part of the city do you live in?" Wrath gave a side glance, taking note of just how good the blonde looked in his jacket.

"Chinatown" he shoved his hands in his pockets as he watched the redhead nod and prepare to open the portal.

"Aperire Plane Mortali" The demons voice echoed as the symbol filled with a bright blue light.

"Yeah, way less intimidating than the red portal of doom that led to hell." the half demon scoffed and followed his mentor through to the otherside.  
_

Sasuke looked up from his book as Ino's voice came through the speaker.

"Sir, High Lord Wrath is here to see you."

There was a nervous tinge in her tone. "Send him up." Itachi answered, not bothered by it at all.

Everyone had heard about the altercation between them last night after the ceremony. He had expected as much and was thoroughly surprised no one lost a limb. Shisui was upset when Itachi declined the offer to accompany him to work today, everyone fully knowing Minato would show up first thing in the morning. Although Itachi didn't blame the old demon one bit, he had a justifiable reason for his anger as usual, Sasuke was still on the fence about it. He only hoped it had subdued enough that they wouldn't destroy the office during the impromptu meeting today. The demon looked over at his brother sitting at his desk, working on his computer, ever famous uninterested expression on his face.

"Should I move the furniture out of the way so you can throw punches? Or do you want me to play the ref for round two?" The half breed scowled as his older brother didn't even bother looking up from his work.

Sasuke was half glad that High Lord Wrath nearly handed Itachi's ass to him since it was primarily his fault the blonde ended up in hell. This was way more than the young Uchiha had bargained for when he resolved to return to New York to explain everything to his ex. Never did he imagine Naruto would be a half demon like him. For all the trouble it was worth he hoped this would help the man understand why Sasuke was the way he was. Sasuke recalled how Naruto didn't even glance at him after he chewed him out last night but then softened his anger towards him during the car ride to Madara's. Now Sasuke had a feeling their relationship issues were nearly irrelevant at this point. He knew the topic of his family was a delicate issue for his ex and there was no way the blonde was taking this whole situation well despite whatever cheerful facade he put up.

"Stay. I have a feeling he'll want to talk with you too." Pride stated absently while flipping through his paperwork, unimpressed with his brothers jeer.

"Hn" Sasuke shifted in his seat, slightly uncomfortable with the idea of having to talk to someone who hurt Naruto.

A small knock on the door signaled the arrival. "Come in." Pride stood and shot a glare at the younger figure still partially sprawled on the sofa. "Stand and show some respect"

That was the last thing Sasuke wanted to do. Reluctantly he stood slightly scowling at his brothers honorable manners. If the High Sin Wrath wanted to talk, then Sasuke would talk. But he wouldn't dance around and pretend to kiss ass just because of his power and status. He would make sure Naruto's father knew just how badly he fucked up. They watched Ino lead Minato into the office and quickly exit, obviously not wanting to be around when shit hit the fan. Unfortunately she missed the small surprised look of shock that briefly colored their faces when they saw the state of the man's face as he approached. They exchanged nods of greeting and the tall blonde figure took a seat across Prides desk, slouching in the chair from obvious exhaustion.

"I'm assuming you were reunited with your son last night." Itachi finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence. He continued to stare at the bruises across Wraths face that had begun to fade light purple to a faint yellow. In all his centuries of living only wars left Wrath beaten up like this, nobody else was ever able to best the strongest of the original sins.

Minato answered with a small laugh. "Well, something like that." His eyes crinkled as he smiled faintly, reminding Sasuke so much of Naruto.

"Is Naruto hurt?" Sasuke interrupted, hoping his ex was strong enough to survive a fist fight with a High Lord of hell.

Wrath quirked an eyebrow at the question and put a finger to his chin in thought. "Hurt? Well I doubt he's taking any of this well. He has to be an emotional mess and mentally stressed beyond the point of any normal person, but physically he's quite fit. I mean look what he did to my face. And you haven't seen the bruises on my abdomen. Those ones are still dark purple…" Minato began to babble jokingly, allowing his calm demeanor to take over.

"You didn't fight him back?"

Wrath sat up straight at the comment finally understanding the intent of the questions and stared at the young half breed with an intense gaze. "I know I'm a failure as a father for not being able to find him after his mother passed but I would never intentionally harm my own child."

Itachi glared daggers at his brother knowing that question deeply offended the demon before him. "My little brother has grown quite close to your son during his time away from hell. It appears he had returned with the intention of helping him get back to the mortal realm."

"Oh, I see." He slowly turned back to face Pride and sighed. "I apologize for my outburst at you last night. I was not prepared for my son to be thrown into the tournament. Why did you bring him here, Itachi?"

"I was unaware he was your son, Minato. You kept that information a secret." The demon crossed his legs as he shifted in his seat. "He summoned me yesterday in the middle of a meeting. It was a difficult situation and I had no choice but to bring him to hell or else I'd risk missing the opening ceremony and have my head chewed off and my office under even closer observation by the Order."

"Impossible, he grew up knowing nothing of the demonic world. He shouldn't have known your sigil or even how to summon a demon." The blonde furrowed his brow, deep in thought at this information.

"Yes, and why is that exactly? I don't understand why you would want to hide the fact that you had a child."

Minato pursed his lips considering his response carefully. "At first his mother wanted him to grow up with a normal life. So I would alter his memories anytime he would experience intense demonic or major supernatural activities, it was temporary. We agreed to tell him once he was old enough to understand, but Kushina had the sight. She never became a witch but she was a strong psychic and began having extremely disturbing visions regarding our son in the demon world…." He trailed off slightly as he looked back up to the older Uchiha.

"So you decided it was safer to keep it a secret." Pride finished for him. He turned and walked over to the window, his favorite thinking spot. So there was much more to Minato's son after all, Itachi's hunch was right. "Sasuke, what was Naruto like before he got mixed up in all of this mess?"

The half blood frowned as his brother didn't even bother to turn and look at him. He knew that Itachi was already puzzling things together, finding strategies and possibilities to figure out what exactly was going on. "Normal, I guess."

"Tch" The demon was obviously getting impatient with his brothers attitude. He threw a side glance watching the young half blood roll his eyes before continuing.

"Obnoxious, loud mouthed, dim witted, impulsive, stubborn, temperamental, ill mannered…"

Minato smiled fondly as he spoke. Sasuke blinked at that, a small smile appearing on his face. He recognized that look of longing hidden in deep blue eyes. He had seen it so many times before.

"Yeah he's pretty terrible, but not all the time. He's determined, hard-working and compassionate with an insanely strong set of morals." The Uchiha added the positive traits, feeling slightly contrite about the situation. He was wrong about Naruto's dad. This demon wasn't cold or unfeeling like he imagined or like the rest of his family. He was humble and his smile was heavy lined with the guilt he must have been carrying around this entire time. His rage against Minato dwindled down.

"After his mother passed, I drove myself insane looking for him. It took everything in me not to tear New York apart. Kushina's visions were always spot on and I knew it was dangerous for anyone to know I had a son. So my searches for him had to be quiet, and Naruto moved to so many different foster homes. By the time it took be to find out where he went, he had been relocated, I couldn't keep up. Gaara was the only one that knew, he helped whenever he could but our jobs didn't give us an immense about of free time." Minato leaned his head back against the chair, eyes shut as he continued. "By the time I found him he had gotten out of the foster system, started working, moved in with some friends that really seemed to care for him, and was planning on starting college. It felt wrong to rip him away from those bonds he was finally beginning to make. He was finally starting to make something of his life."

"You did what you thought was best, but the person you should be explaining all of this to is your son." Pride finally turned from the window, leaving his hands clasped behind his back.

"I know, both Gaara and Kakashi have lectured me on the matter. I really don't need a third reprimand. I'm just giving him some space to calm down before we talk."

"Hn" Sasuke knew from personal experience that Naruto was always quick to anger and definitely needed some space to process things.

Itachi turned back to the window as he spoke, "What exactly did these visions entail?"

They exited through the small red door and found themselves right in front of the Chatham Square Library, amidst the busy streets with people making their morning commutes to work.

"Wow, that librarian was really confused when we walked out of the back storage room. I'm surprised she didn't throw that book at you." Naruto laughed as he remembered her bewildered expression looking back and forth between the two male figures that just emerged from an area that was restricted.

The demon shrugged and descended the steps to land on the sidewalk. "I wasn't sure which part of Chinatown you needed to be at so I just picked the spot I knew best."

"It's good, my apartment isn't to far from here." Naruto nodded in reassurance.

"Remember, four hours. I've got some things to do so we'll meet up here." Wrath watched the half demon give a thumbs up before turning off and disappearing into the crowded sidewalk.

He pulled the hood over his head against the chilling November wind and turned in the opposite direction. Of all the places on the mortal realm he frequented New York City the most. It wasn't his favorite place, but it wasn't half bad. It's true that demons are naturally attracted to big cities like moths to a flame, but something about the cultural diversity and modernization of it all intrigued Gaara. Places filled with mortals in sin and easily swayed and influenced would set any lower being of hells blood on fire, Gaara merely shrugged at the thought. He was usually here for other business, as a sin of hell he employed a vast amount of lesser demons to fill his quotas around the world. He had no need or desire to meddle in unnecessary things, today he was able to merely enjoy things for what they were. After walking ten blocks down he pulled out a key and unlocked a familiar storefront. He entered the small occult shop, careful to lock the door behind him. The jingle of the bells alerted the store owner as her voice carried from somewhere on the second floor.

"I'm upstairs." padded footsteps on the ceiling told the sin she was moving around in the kitchen above him.

Wrath pushed past the beaded curtain and hanging fabrics into the private reading room where a familiar crystal ball sat on a large round table. He stared for a moment watching it turn a deep oxblood color in response to the proximity of the demon, as he remembered when he had given Fu that as a birthday gift nearly three centuries ago. It was just before he went up for nomination as Wrath. Just before she got upset and decided it was too much work for him and he wouldn't have time for her anymore, and how this wouldn't allow her to be free like she should be. Just before she did a reckless act out of spite that he broke up with her. It had cost her dearly, and Gaara felt a small tinge of guilt although he knew it wasn't really his fault. He shook his head from his memories and continued through the room to the stairwell hidden in the far back corner.

Shizune was in the kitchen, soft meditation music playing in the background as she stood head bowed in her daily morning ritual, lips muttering a soft unintelligible incantation. He watched the witch for a moment wondering if she still harbored any resentment towards him for what had happened all those years ago. Her best friend had her divine abilities stripped and cast back into the mortal realm while she was confined to New York working as its gatekeeper for the rest of her existence. Thanks to Gaara's intervention it was a much lighter punishment for the both of them than what should have been sentenced for breaking the Reaper's Law, but it was still a heavy burden for them all. Both witches had gone through their fair share of rejection from human society for their divine abilities and now even rejection from the demonic realm for their actions.

Gaara could count on one hand the number of true capable witches left on the mortal realm. The lack of those with divine rights was becoming a problem. They were charged as the healers, communicators and counselors of the supernatural beings in the mortal realm. Without them, the shadow parts of this world would overtake the mortals which were a vital part to both heaven and hell. He had heard from Kakashi at their last meeting that they have been finding it harder to find potential diviners.

Thanks to the Fae mixing their blood with mortals, there are half-humans who possess the sight, the third eye, the ability to see and comprehend the astral plane in which they dwell, posses a natural gift. They can become these witches, healers of the shadow world if they so choose. Witches were those with the sight who had taken oath, trained and refined their abilities, charged with looking after the half breeds on the mortal plane and aiding them to find their path. However this position is considered a blessing and a curse, trading power for mortality. Fu resented her abilities at first, for taking away her normal life and causing her to flee her home after threats of burning witches at the stake started. Shizune spent most of her youth chained in a cellar, her family afraid of the things she knew and saw. Both were eventually saved, ironically by demons. But that was the only reason they were able to awaken their true powers and become High Priestesses of their kind, left to humans they would have been locked away, all that potential left untapped.

He finally took a seat at the small table in her kitchen and waited for her to finish lighting her candles at her small window sill altar. He let his mind wander to Fu. It had been at least three centuries since they last talked. He knew better than to blame himself for their falling out but that nagging sense of fault was still there. Last time he asked Shizune about her she had gotten married, again, and was off on some honeymoon in the Bahamas. She was making the most out of her immortal life, always married to rich men or women until they pass away from old age, or drug overdose, or heart attacks and then moving on to the next one. For all her impulsiveness, bad influences and faults Gaara had truly loved her. And it pained him when he saw she didn't love him back the same way in the end.

Once he was sure that he was over her, he decided best to leave the relationship aspect out of his life after that, it's not like he had time for it anymore. He was extremely busy with his position as Wrath and on top of that he hated meaningless dates and one night stands. The few that he had left him empty, never able to satisfy in the way he desired. Now the very idea of the effort to make a connection for just a short while was not appealing, and it seemed like that was all the rage in society. The thought of Naruto in his leather jacket popped into his mind. He remembered the way it fit across his broad shoulders and his collarbone slightly visible through the neckline of his shirt. The bright smile filled with gratitude slapped across his face, and deep blue eyes that hid entire oceans of pain.

"Coffee?" The woman had finally finished and her voice broke him from his thought.

"Please" the demon absently sucked on the piercing that protruded from the center of his bottom lip as she filled the french press with hot water and fished around in her cupboard for some mugs.

"Who have you got on your mind that's making you blush like that? I hope it's not me because I know I'm hard to resist but you are like family to me. That would be weird." She let out a chuckle enjoying every minute of teasing him.

He merely glared at the witch in response.

"Wait. Fuck, I forgot you're rich. I take back what I said, let's blow this popsicle stand lover boy." She threw her hands in the air in mock excitement, the navy silk sleeves of her robe waving around.

"Too late. Now you have to watch me become a brooding millionaire." He watched her throw her head back and laugh at his retort.

"You still drink it the same right? Black like your soul?" He could practically hear the smirk in her voice.

"Haha….that one never gets old." He pulled a small silk bag out of his jean pocket and placed it on the table as she approached with two filled mugs in hand.

"For me?" She gasped for drama and excitedly sat after setting their coffee down.

"You mentioned you were looking for some, but no one in New York could supply and all the online ones were phonies." He took the coffee cup and brought it to his lips, watching her dump the contents of the bag into her empty palm.

"Holy shit Ichibi!" She used his old nickname in her enthusiasm of seeing the items, her fingers gently caressing over the smooth iridescence of the dragon scales.

"Happy Birthday." He watched her smile spread across her face as she held her gift.

"How did you even get these? They are impossible to find, even for a high demon of hell. Oh my god, I can't believe it! Do you know how amazing you are right now? Fucking Gaara, why you gotta be such a good friend?" She babbled still reeling with joy.

He waved it off. "Yeah, yeah. You're welcome."

"Seriously though, thank you." She placed the five large scales back into the pouch and set them aside. "Soooo, how's the underworld? How's my mom doing? You saw her last night at the ceremony right?"

"Yeah, I saw her. She seemed good. She asked about you, said she would call..." He raised an eyebrow.

She smiled to herself, her adoptive mother was all tough love but she never forgot a birthday. "She did. We're gonna have dinner tonight."

"Just keep the alcohol and gambling away from her." Gaara half joked, knowing Tsunade's tendency to fully embarrass Shizune when drunk.

"At least she doesn't blast eighties hair metal when she drives around, like someone I know…" She burst out laughing remembering the look of horror on the redhead's face when Minato first drove by them blaring the music from his 1967 Chevy impala a decade ago. Wrath grumbled at the thought of it.

"Admit it though. Demons made better loving parents for us than lousy humans ever did." She caught his gaze and quirked her head to the side.

"They definitely did."


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto stood outside his apartment staring at the faded number on the door for what must have been twenty minutes. He wasn't ready to leave this, wasn't prepared to be uprooted again. He had fooled himself into thinking he would never have to be forcefully displaced after he turned eighteen. He fought back the shaking in his hands and swallowed, feeling the tightening in his throat.

"Dude! What happened to you last night? We had to call Sora to come back in and pull a double shift cause you didn't show." Kiba jumped up from the table as Naruto walked into the small apartment.

"Sorry! I'm sorry. I had something unexpected happen and I left my phone here so I wasn't able to call you guys." The blonde apologized again hoping they wouldn't ask for too much detail.

"Look man, I know all about that. When a booty call comes you gotta answer, but not when you have work and don't let anyone know you won't be coming in." Kiba sat back down and crossed his arms just before receiving a backhand across his head from their other roommate who approached the kitchen table.

"You wouldn't know anything about that considering the fact that nobody calls you aside from us, you idiot." Tenten rolled her eyes as the man at the table rubbed the back of his head and glared back up at her. She playfully ruffled his hair and took a seat at the table next to him, reaching for the newspaper and pulling out the sports section for Kiba.

Naruto smiled as he watched the interaction between the two, trying hard to commit everything about this moment of them together to memory. Kiba was his best friend since high school. They'd get into all sort of trouble but no matter what they had been there. They were the only ones who hadn't left yet. He remembered how Kiba was always dragging the blonde into doing some stupid prank at school or spending the summer afternoons in front of his old TV in his bedroom playing xbox and cracking open the window so they could smoke a joint Kiba stole off his older sister. It made Naruto's life seem almost normal for a few moments, until the crushing reality of having to go home at some point reared it's ugly head. Or when Kiba's mom would be home on rare days and Kiba insisted on them leaving once the yelling between his sister and drunk mother started, ending up in them wandering around the city instead. Naruto would pick up on Kiba's silent plea for a distraction and go along with it. Not asking questions or showing signs of pity, just being there for him until he felt ready to go back home.

Whenever Naruto ran away after a bad altercation with his foster parents and just needed some space away from his bullshit, he'd always somehow find himself at Kiba's doorstep despite whatever bloody nose, busted lip or black eye he happened to have. Although Kiba's father was gone and his mother was a raging drunk and drug addict always in and out of rehab, Kiba's older sister always let Naruto stay for a night before kicking both boys out in the morning with meaningless threats of calling CPS on their asses if they didn't get to school. Kiba never mentioned much about Naruto's bruises other than tossing him a first aid kit he had on hand ever since the first time Naruto showed up with an ugly gash on his head freshman year. He always healed abnormally fast so Kiba settled for just telling him he was mostly welcome to stay whenever unless his mom was home and he was always there if Naruto ever needed to talk about it. Naruto never talked about it, not fully anyway. They were similar in that aspect, they had hidden parts of their lives they were ashamed to talk about but had shown each other regardless and in that it made them closer as brothers.

And then there was Tenten. Kiba had been chasing her since elementary apparently, always getting rejected or having his ass kicked finally sunk in by the end of middle school. They became friends once he gave up trying to kiss her. After the whirlwind of chaos that ensued once Naruto and Kiba met in high school she stuck close to them always making sure they didn't get into too many fights. And if they did, she'd make sure people would think twice before messing with her friends. The boys eventually stopped initiating fights with guys twice their size when Tenten got suspended for jumping in to save their asses and sending three guys to the hospital their sophomore year. After that they promised to keep their noses clean and Tenten gladly settled for making sure Kiba at least tried with his grades, scolding him for failing tests or forgetting to do the homework assignments. She was always looking out for them and would often bring some extra food once she noticed Naruto would wolf down his lunch on the days the cafeteria food was actually edible. He'd always decline but she'd stick it in his bag anyway when he wasn't looking. She was a saint and Kiba was a dog who didn't deserve her. She was the only reason Kiba got out of bed every morning and the only thing keeping him employed, sober and clean was because he wanted to be everything for her.

Naruto turned away from them and walked to his room. "Where's Lee?"

"Shower" Kiba responded as he got up to pour some coffee for his girlfriend.

The blonde entered his room, ignoring the dried up vomit and blood on the floor. He looked up to the large dent in the wall, hand ghosting over his ribs where now only a bruise was left. He moved one of his WWII propaganda replica posters to cover the hole. He'd let Kiba deal with it later, payback for eating his last microwave ramen the other night. The blonde dumped his books and spiral notebooks from his backpack onto the floor and began pulling clothes from his closet, violently stuffing them into his bag. He wouldn't be able to take everything so just the essentials and stuff he held valuable right? It's not like the half breed really had all that much to begin with. He climbed up to the top shelf of his closet and pulled down a beat up tin x-men lunchbox. He pulled out a large wad of cash before tossing the small box into his bag. The dried up puddle of puke finally annoyed the blonde enough to use a dirty towel and clean the floor as best as possible before tossing it aside and sitting on his bed for what could be the very last time.

"Fuck" Naruto whispered to himself and let his head rest in his hands for a moment. He was not mentally prepared to leave everything behind again.

When had he become so weak? When he moved in with Kiba three years ago after high school and let himself be surrounded by people who cared. He laughed darkly to himself, fully knowing well that nothing lasts forever. And if his college education, that he willingly jumped into student debt for had taught him anything, it was that history always repeated itself at some point. Like life enjoys constantly throwing things back in your face and picking at old scars on purpose because it's a sadistic son of a bitch. He reached over to his bedside table and unplugged his pre-paid phone from where it was charging. Twenty missed calls and over fifty unread text messages varying from an angry ex boyfriend, a concerned roommate, a few pissed off coworkers and a frantic best friend. He scrolled through them just to make the notifications disappear but didn't even bother trying to read them all. The phone wouldn't be good after a month unless he could come back and buy a new prepaid card and even if he did he doubted he'd get reception in hell. He tossed it back onto his bed as he stood back up grabbing a black beanie and orange knitted scarf.

"Lee, I need my toothbrush." Naruto knocked on the door to the bathroom before opening it and stepping into so much steam they could have opened a sauna in their dingy Chinatown apartment and charged uptown prices for it.

"You going on a trip?" the dark haired gym instructor poked his head around the striped shower curtain and eyed the full bag Naruto was shoving his toiletries into.

"I fucking wish." The blonde sighed which earned a quirked brow from Lee. A trip insinuated that Naruto would eventually be back and Naruto knew his chances of returning were pretty slim.

"So you're packing for a mystery trip… got it." Lee returned back to the steady stream of scorching water.

"... Uh... something like that. I gotta take care of some business and I'm not sure when I'll be back, man. So take care…..and for the love of god, leave some hot water for the rest of us peasants on the planet, ok? I think the droughts in California are partly to blame on you." Naruto dodged the half empty bottle of shampoo that was thrown at him as he exited the bathroom.

Shit, this was gonna be harder than originally anticipated. He couldn't even properly say goodbye to Lee. How the fuck was he going to tell Kiba and Tenten? Naruto shook his head and shoved the black hat over his blonde locks. He tossed the scarf around his neck and inhaled deeply as he checked the time, one hour had passed. He still had one more person to see after Kiba, he couldn't waste time. This was it, no chickening out or falling apart. Besides, this was different from before. This time he was the one doing the leaving. He slung his backpack into place and forced his legs to move, one foot in front of the other towards the kitchen.

"Nards, you want pancak-"

Kiba was interrupted by the large wad of cash that was tossed onto the wooden table in front of him. Brown eyes furrowed in confusion as he reached for it.

"Did I win a bet that I forgot about or…" Kiba looked up, slowly registering the full pack and distant expression on his best friends face. He'd seen that look before, he knew where this was headed.

"Kiba.."

"And just where the fuck do you think you're going?" Tenten grabbed her boyfriend's wrist as he violently stood. There was some unspoken statement that had just happened between them.

"I-… I found my dad." Naruto finally spoke

"Wait, what?"

Naruto laughed, it was a sick sound in the back of his throat. Both Kiba and Tenten looked mildly horrified at their friend.

"It's a fucking shitshow, man. I got dragged into a mess and I gotta go take care of some stuff that's kinda related to him." Naruto was trying to gauge if this would end in a fight or not.

"What?" It was the only thing Kiba seemed able to say at the moment. Naruto took the opportunity to speed through whatever he had to say before anything else happened.

The blonde pointed to the stack of cash on the table. "I don't know if I'll be able to come back but that should be enough to cover my share of the rent for at least three months. So don't blow it all on useless shit. My stash is in the top drawer of my nightstand. I know you don't smoke anymore so you can sell it to your sister or she can find someone to buy it. Honestly I haven't touched it in a while so I don't know how much is left. I won't have cell reception where I'm at but I'll try to find a way to keep in touch. You can also sell my stuff if you want, or keep it. It doesn't matter."

"Doesn't matter?! What the fuck dude! You can't just say shit like that. Of course it matters!"

"Kiba, don't yell. You don't know what Naruto's situation is like right now." Now Tenten was standing, pleadingly trying to keep it a relatively calm argument.

"Oh, I'll tell you. He found his good for nothing father and now he's gonna run in and try to save him from whatever hole he crawled into cause Naruto is always trying to be the good guy, the hero."

"Kiba!"

"No, Ten." He looked back at his best friend. "What about your degree? You're just gonna throw that away for some guy who ditched you when you were a kid? What about me, man? You gonna throw our friendship away for some guy who's gonna just let you down again and again? I've been down that road Nards. I know how it plays out. They won't change, not even for their kids." That was the breaking point for Kiba as angry tears came streaming down his face.

Naruto sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face, desperately holding back tears of his own. "I wish it were that easy but it's not. You don't think I want to shove him in front of a moving train? Believe me, if I had the chance last night I would have taken it. That doesn't make my dad and all the problems finding him comes with disappear."

"That doesn't mean you have to go rushing in to save the day! Save yourself the heartache and let him figure it out on his own instead of trying to believe you can fix him or that being with him will fix you." Kiba clenched his fists as he tried to regain some composure.

"It's not like that. You don't understand."

"Bullshit! If there's one thing that I understand it's shitty parents that leave and hurt you."

"I am in physical danger Kiba! I'll be putting you guys in danger if I stay. They'll come looking for me..."

Silence.

"Just exactly what kind of shit is your dad in?" Tenten released Kiba's arm that had been holding him back from jumping across the table.

"The unbelievable kind"

"So yeah, they asked me to move the portal to some shady ass location because according to the Order, too many drunk humans were falling through."

"And have they?" Gaara asked already knowing the answer to that question.

"No. I know when beings of high power or mortals pass through my portal. Let me tell you not a single human has fallen through in a few decades. I didn't fight it though, there's no winning with those guys."

"So why move the portal to someplace less accessible?"

Shizune shrugged. "Fuck if I know. At this point I just work here and nobody tells me anything anymore."

They waited on the dirty subway platform for their train to arrive. Gaara watched as Shizune fixed her oversized dark sunglasses she always wore in public. Something about it helping her mute the distraction of wandering spirits she saw since she couldn't just turn it off like demons could, or so she said. The sin knew she also loved looking like a model and turning the heads of people passing by. All dolled up in her long hooded black coat with large oversized sleeves and perfectly painted red lips, the only shock of color against her all black outfit. She looked like something straight out of Vouge, you know, if they ever took a turn towards gothic couture.

"Did it hurt?" A raspy voice came from behind the pair.

"Excuse me?" Shizune turned to find a crusty man with a guitar in his hand.

He strummed a few chords before responding. "When you fell from heaven?"

"How sweet of you to mistake me for our dark lord Lucifer, but I'm gonna have to disappoint you and say I clawed my way up straight from hell. So fuck off, you walking ash tray." She turned back around as Gaara rolled his eyes at the interaction before him.

"Fucking bitch." The musician spat and walked away when he didn't get the answer he wanted.

Shizune simply waved her hand and all the strings of his guitar popped earning a string of cursing from the guitarist. She smirked to herself as their train approached, leaving the nuisance of a mortal behind. They got off at a station in Brooklyn and turned down the dark secluded platform, following a familiar hum of power portals emitted. They began to see quite a few lesser demons and half breeds as they continued down, all inclined their heads in respect to Lord Wrath as he passed them along the various twists, turns and platforms they had to climb over.

"This is extremely annoying" Gaara muttered as he hopped down from the platform and turned back to help Shizune.

"And now you know why I am receiving at least a hundred complaints on a daily basis. I know this is New York and commute times are normally shitty but this is ridiculous to get to. It's too far out of everyone's way for the daily commuters." She lightly placed her hands on his shoulders as she allowed him to help lift her down to the old abandoned tracks.

"I imagine that there is a crowding problem in these tunnels during rush hours as well?"

"You have no idea" she deadpanned and continued following the path.

"Lord Wrath?" a small figure tugged on sin's hoodie.

Gaara turned and looked down at a small face he hadn't seen in awhile. "Shinki?"

The halfbreed must have been eleven by now. Had it really been that long since Gaara had last seen them? The boy's voice broke his train of thought.

"I thought you had forgotten about me." He smiled, pleased that the demon had remembered his name.

"Not likely." He offered a rare smile before speaking again. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for my sister. She left a few days ago on a job but hasn't come back. I've been coming here to ask around if anyone has seen her."

"Yodo is missing?" He watched the boy nod in answer to his question.

"Keep looking for her, but be careful. I'll see if I can find anything to help track her down."

"Thank you Lord Wrath." the small boy bowed before running off back down the tunnel.

"Isn't that one of the kids who lost their parents in that ugly hunter fight a few years ago?" Shizune examined her nails, watching Gaara out of the corner of her eye.

"Hmm.." He turned and continued walking back to the portal.

"I think it's sweet of you to give half breed and demon kids a home free of charge in your fancy building. Like you're a scary ruthless demon and all but still, it's sweet. I'm sure they are all grateful for it." The witch mused.

"The only reason they lost their parents was because of a job I assigned them to do. They are my responsibility. I sent their parents to their deaths after all." He let the morbid statement hang between them as they stood before the large portal that took up most of the space in the tunnel.

"Well, I suppose that's true." Shizune finally responded as she let the sin examine the area. She wasn't sure what he was looking for but she knew better than to interrupt his thought process.

"Does it sit on a ley line?" Gaara had jumped back up to the platform and pressed his back against the filthy tile wall and looked around.

"What?"

"A ley line. It this on a ley line? Are we on a ley line right now?" He moved to stand parallel to the portal for a moment studying it before jumping back down and disappearing behind it.

"Ley line? The fuck if I know off the top of my head. I don't have that shit memorized like I used to." She muttered to herself as she reached into her jacket pocket to pull out a crystal quartz pendulum.

She moved to the side of the tracks, out of the way of the little bit of portal traffic so she could douse properly. She stilled the stone and whispered, "Show me the nearest ley line."

It began to spin wildly, there was too much energy for it to discern anything useful. The witch grunted in mild frustration. Gaara reappeared and crouched on the upper level of the platform, looking down as Shizune cursed at her crystal. She was going to have to try another method. The witch tossed the useless pendulum up to Gaara before digging in her coat pockets once more and pulling out a circular mirror and her red lipstick. She pushed her designer sunglasses to rest on her head and drew an intricate symbol on the back of her pocket mirror with her favorite lipstick before turning back to the demon above her.

"If you would be so kind." She lifted the mirror up to him like an offering plate.

"Always blood with you witches." Gaara bit his thumb and let a small puddle collect on the reflective surface.

"You are the one who wanted to know about the ley lines..." She smeared it all over the shiny mirror and returned back to the center of the tracks and continued to work.

Gaara was still crouched at the edge of the platform, resting his head in his hand as he waited. He watched the pendulum Shizune tossed at him spin frantically at the close proximity of his own demonic energy as he held it in his free hand. If this was on a ley line then that meant the Order needed it here to move something big, or something with a massive amount of energy that a portal in a normal place wouldn't be able to transport. Since the ley lines are the earth's natural energy streams having a portal rest on one would amplify the amount of energy it's normally able to transport. He was pulled from his thoughts as the item in his hand froze. It pointed directly at Shizune on the tracks as she muttered the last of her incantation. It jolted out of the demons fingers towards the sudden spike in energy and shattered on impact with Shizune's personal protective field. The entire subway station lit up, as old lights flickered to life and the tracks sparked for a moment before dying back down. The few demons who passed by raised their brows quizzically at the slight commotion but returned to their business once the energy spike died down. Shizune tossed the cracked blood stained mirror to the demon after he hopped down from the station platform.

"That's a yes to your question. A strong one at that." She sighed shaking sparks from her fingers.

Gaara handed the mirror back to her after looking at it and nodded. "Let's just keep quiet for now, but observe it closely. Call me the minute anything unusual passes through."

"Why do I put up with you?" Shizune put her sunglasses back into position but picked up on what Gaara meant about unusual portal activity and hummed in response.

"Because you'd have no one else to annoy if it weren't for me. Let's go, I'll buy you a tea." He offered her his arm and she linked hers through it for support. Her body was buzzing with the energy surge and despite her abilities it was somewhat difficult to control. She'd need time to wind down.

They made it back to the busy streets and sat outside a small cafe that sat between the Queens and Brooklyn boroughs. He watched Shizune finish her tea as she had come down from her mild energy checked the time, one more hour until he'd have to meet up with Naruto and head back. This evening could be difficult, hell the whole situation would take some adjusting. He only hoped training Naruto wouldn't prove to be an impossible task.

"Oh baby boy, walk that fine piece of ass this way. Happy birthday to me." Shizune cooed as she observed some mortal eye candy she had found across the street.

Gaara rolled his eyes but turned to look at the poor soul that Shizune had marked as her next intimate endeavor. He choked back a crude remark once he recognized the leather jacket and blonde hair sticking out from under a black knitted beanie.

"Naruto?" He was finally able to let out.

Shizune snapped her head back to look at the demon. "That's the Namikaze boy? You didn't tell me he was so fuckable."

Gaara glared at her comment. "You didn't ask."

"So you do think he's fuckable…" She gave a smug grin as a rare blush crept over the sins face.

"I didn't say that."

"But you didn't deny it. You think he's dreamy." She sang as she turned to looked back at the unknowing half breed.

"Please don't do this." Wrath sighed. When it came to anyone Gaara showed any remote interest in Shizune was like a dog with a bone. She'd never let it go until she was satisfied in meddling with his lack of a love life.

"Oh, we are doing this. C'mon." She stood and made her way to follow as he crossed the street a block ahead.

"It's your birthday. I should be helping you look for someone so you can get laid." Gaara grumbled as he tossed some cash on the table and followed the witch.

"Trust. This is just as good- no better than me getting laid! I haven't seen you blush over someone since Fuu." She picked up her pace as she continued, not letting the blonde out of her sight.

"I am his mentor. I seriously doubt that adding a shitty attempt at any kind of other relationship will help him survive the trials." The demon was thinking logically on this part. The trials were far more serious and impending than a fleeting attraction.

"Oh pfff- excuses, excuses." Shizune waved her hand, ending that conversation. "Where is blondie going?"

They quickly crossed the street as Naruto rounded a corner up ahead. The both paused as they turned down the street Naruto disappeared to. A large sign stood at the entrance just across the street from them, Cypress Hills Cemetery. Wrath spotted Naruto walking further into the cemetery before disappearing once again behind a large mausoleum.

"Cemetary? Creepy as fuck." Shizune sighed before grabbing Gaara's wrist and entering the iron gates.

Wrath leaned back against the large oak tree they hid behind. He crossed his arms and frowned as Shizune peeked out to observe the half breed kneeling at a small tombstone. He had a pretty good idea what Naruto was doing here.

"Oh, poor baby…" Shizune had lifted her dark glasses to get a better look but turned back with a hand to her mouth.

"He's here to say goodbye to his mom." The demon watched the wind blow through the leaves, avoiding eye contact with the witch beside him.

"Yeah."

Gaara peeked around the tree and willed his demon sight to take over until the blurry figure of a redheaded woman was visible sitting next to her son. The spirit turned and smiled at the two hiding behind the tree.

"Hmm… She says you better take care of him and be patient cause he can be really stubborn. But he's a good kid who-… hmmm. A good kid who deserves to be happy." She paused and tapped her chin in thought. "Something about being each other's happiness, I think? She's a little hard to understand, murder victims usually are."

"Let's give him some space." Gaara began walking back to the entrance with Shizune following close behind.

"Phew, I always get so overwhelmed in cemeteries." the witch leaned against the black iron fence.

"You said she was murdered? Minato never mentioned that." The demon made a mental note to ask the High Lord Wrath about it.

Shizune nodded. "It's not really something most of the victims families enjoy talking about. We really gotta work on your empathy levels."

He pulled out his phone and shot off a few text messages to Temari in regards to the missing half breed girl and to look into Kushina's death without alerting Minato. He decided on whether he should alert Itachi about the portal being on a ley line, but decided against it. He'd wait to see how things played out.

"I'll take you back home." Gaara shoved his phone back into his hoodie pocket.

"Like hell you are. I still want to meet the owner of that delicious tight ass who can catch our ominous Lord of Wrath's eye and make him blush like a school boy."

Gaara grunted but knew arguing with her would be pointless, she did as she pleased. He rested his head back against the fence and closed his eyes as they waited for Naruto.

"Gaara?" the half breed finally exited the gate and quirked his head at the sight of the demon.

"Well hello there handsome. You must be Naruto. I've heard loads about you. I'm Shizune, High Witch of NYC." She extended her hand.

The blonde furrowed his brows in slight confusion before accepting her well manicured hand in his. Shizune let out a small gasp at the contact and ripped the sunglasses from her face, staring hard at the blonde.

"Umm… Nice to meet you." Naruto tugged his hand back out of her vice grip and slightly backed away from her intense stare.

"Oh! Sorry. You're very interesting." was all the witch offered as she snapped back to reality and placed her glasses back on her face.

"Huh?" Naruto awkwardly scratched at the back of his head looking from the woman to the demon for more explanation.

"Gaara was just about to treat us to some lunch before you both went back to hell." She grabbed the demon by the shoulders and shoved him forward, forcing him to start walking in down the street.

"You're working my last nerve." Gaara grumbled as he let the woman push him along back to the subway station.

She lightly smacked his shoulder. "Rude. It's my birthday. Don't be such a limp dick."

Naruto burst out laughing at her last remark.

"See, blondie agrees with me." She let go of the demon and slung her arm around the half breed's shoulders as they waited on the subway platform.

"Never in my life would I imagine someone calling him a limp dick and surviving."

"Normally he'd rip the arms off of whoever said it but we go way back so I have special friend and name calling privileges." She leaned in before continuing in a not so hushed whisper. "And by the way we aren't a thing nor have we ever been, but he does not actually have a limp dick. It's 110% fully functional and able to perform-" She was dragged sideways by an invisible force following her maniacal laughter.

"And that's where your special friend privilege ends." Gaara gave a death glare her way.

They exited back in Chinatown and Shizune led them to a small restaurant that she insisted had the best korean bbq on the planet. As usual she was right. Once the check came Naruto instinctively reached into his pocket for some cash, hoping he had enough to at least cover his share of the meal.

"Don't worry about it." Gaara slid his credit card over to the server as she took it and returned to the register.

"I don't want to take advantage of it." Naruto mumbled and fiddled with edge of his napkin.

"Seriously, don't worry about it. After all the shit you've been through a free meal is probably the highlight of your week." The witch crossed her legs and laughed to herself.

The blonde shrugged and frowned down at his empty hands.

"I didn't expect you to get dumped into all of this suddenly and magically have funds to support yourself, especially now that your only focus will be training for the trials. It's not a bother." Gaara crossed his arms as he spoke to Naruto.

"Yeah, I guess.." Naruto looked back up, still frowning.

"Look, Gaara is your mentor now. That means he is one hundred percent responsible for making sure you don't die. That includes by starvation." Shizune offered a smile. "Besides he's loaded and has no one to spend the money on. You are doing him a favor. Trust."

The demon rolled his eyes. "You can't possibly take advantage of me any more than she has."

Shizune gave a small 'hmph' as the server returned with Gaara's card. Naruto excused himself to use the restroom before they left back to hell.

"Gaara" Shizune dropped her playful tone once the half breed was out of earshot.

"Hmm..?" The demon looked over to the witch.

"Keep an eye on him. Like really, keep a close eye on him."

"What did you see?" Wrath furrowed his brow.

"He's… special."

"Descriptive." the demon deadpanned.

"Ugh, I don't know how to explain it." She whined.

"Try."

"Fine, fine. When we shook hands I got a glimpse of something….He's got something dormant inside him. It's powerful and could potentially put him in danger." Shizune spoke in a hushed voice, making sure no one overheard her.

"Are you saying he's possessed? Half breeds are hard for demons to possess in the first place, especially a half breed who's a descendant of a High Lord. And for it to stay dormant, that's not normal demonic possession protocol." Gaara instantly began trying to make sense of what the witch was saying.

"I don't know if it's a demon or an energy source or whatever. All I was able to see is that it's not active right now but it will be extremely powerful if it wakes up. Just look out for him. He's got a lot of weight he's carrying emotionally too. He had to cut his only few ties today. He's officially lost everyone who was ever important to him." The witch pleaded empathy for the half breed.

Naruto returned before Gaara could respond. Shizune stood and led them out to the street once again. She paused in front of her shop and turned to face the two.

"Well boys, it's been a blast." She turned to the redhead as she continued. "Thank you for the gift, and the tea and the meal and the almost being impaled by my own pendulum. That was a first for me."

"Not my fault." Wrath shoved his hands in his pockets and scoffed.

"And it was a pleasure meeting you, really." She grabbed the blonde's hands as she spoke. "I live here so if you ever find yourself in New York for whatever reason and need help please don't hesitate to come see me. Or if you don't need help come see me anyway. We can talk shit about Gaara behind his back and it'll be great." She scrunched her nose in amusement before pulling away and entering her shop.

"Umm.." Naruto held out his hand to Gaara. The half breed turned the iridescent object over to examine the intricate sigils carved into it.

"That witch." The demon sighed and began to walk away.

Naruto scurried after his mentor as they walked back to the library they originally came through. "What is it?"

"It's a type of protection, luck charm. Hang on to it."

They found a secluded spot towards the nonfiction section as Gaara got to work smearing his blood in a sigil, similar to the one Itachi had created yesterday.

"Ready to go back to hell?"

Naruto laughed. "Well, it's not like I have much of a choice."


	7. Chapter 7

The meeting was long, boring and Gaara tried his best to pay attention as Itachi went on about proper training procedures and the like. He left Naruto back at home to give him some time to get settled, not that it looked like there was much stuff he brought with him to settle in. Judging by the excessive smiles and chatter of random subjects, Naruto was going into full defense mode. He was warned that this was very likely his unhealthy way of dealing with his emotions. The younger Uchiha had pulled him aside before the meeting began to speak with the Sin. Underneath the usual expressionless mask that they were known for, Gaara sensed the concern that was hiding beneath the surface. He nodded and watched the dark head of hair leave back into Itachi's personal office as Pride shooed him off so they could start.

It was probably going to be the most challenging part of it all. Gaara knew he wasn't an expert on being expressive, he was reserved by nature. It was something he was still working on at the request of Shizune and his assistant. But unlike Naruto he hid his emotion behind a mask of indifference or annoyance to those where weren't close to him. So at least people knew there was something wrong when they were given a death glare. Shit, this was a terrible pair up. Fucking fates were probably laughing their asses off right now at how ludicrous Naruto's life had gotten in just twenty four hours. Maybe throwing him into training right off the bat was a bad idea? Perhaps he needs the evening to put everything on pause for a moment? Fuck, Gaara could use an evening to step on the breaks of his own life. Then of course it could backfire and cause the half breed to slip further into his hidden thoughts and emotions, and that is a hard place to come back from once you slip so far in. So maybe a distraction from it all would be good? Would it be pushing him though?

Stop.

He was doing it again. The one and only thing Temari insisted he was a pro at by now. He frowned and sat back in his chair. He forced himself to focus back to the meeting at hand and stop his incessant over thinking before he worked himself into a panic. Minato's kid was all grown up, and what a shitty hand of cards he had been dealt. There was nothing Gaara could do to change that fact, but Minato had pleaded with Gaara to do all he could to help his son survive. Even Kushina had told him to take care of her son, he felt a slight pressure on his chest. It wasn't fair that she had been taken from Minato and Naruto that way. She was a strong and kind woman, always welcoming when Minato dragged Gaara over to visit after they had finished their assignments in New York and when Gaara was asked to check in on them if Minato would be away on business for an extended period of time. He remembered the tiny mass of blonde hair that zoomed around the house and tugged at him to play, and then the way Minato's voice broke when he came to tell Gaara what had happened. They didn't deserve any of it.

"Gaara?"

The demon looked up to see Pride standing alone in the conference room. When had the meeting ended?

"Something on your mind?" Itachi sat back down fully knowing that Gaara had mentally checked out of the meeting about halfway through.

"Sorry, I have a lot on my plate all of a sudden and I'm not really sure how to deal with it." Wrath confessed.

"Hn."

Gaara slowly stood and made his way to exit.

"I would recommend speaking to my brother if you encounter any difficulties. I know he spoke with you briefly before this meeting but he could probably give you a bit more insight to dealing with Naruto if you needed."

The redhead simply nodded at that statement and left unsure if talking to Naruto's ex boyfriend would really make any of this situation better. Probably not.  
_

Naruto stirred as he felt an unexpected weight next to him, causing his bed to dip. He had been so tired, so sleepy, so ready to just fall into bliss unconsciousness and wake up from this terrible dream that was his life. He turned over to find a figure seated next to him and blinked a few times as his brain begun to register the Sin sitting at the edge of his bed. Wrath held a few photos in his hand, studying them carefully, fully intrigued in the subject of it. Naruto looked up to see Gaara's face had softened some, like back when he had stopped the outburst at Minato. At first maybe Naruto thought it was pity, he hated that stupid feeling his life story seemed to evoke from others. Now though, he was sure he misunderstood it. Gaara was hard to read but pity was not what lingered in his expression.

"Those are private."

"Apologies. They were scattered on your bed and I got curious." The demon placed them in the open tin lunch box that rested on the bedside table on top of a small stack of more photographs and a small collection of items.

"It's just a bunch of photos and junk from when I was a kid." Naruto sighed, tired of trying to keep the redhead from looking at his few personal possessions. He had fallen asleep looking at the old pictures, stupidly trying to cling to something familiar.

"You kept them?" The demon plucked out a small seashell and stared at it in his palm.

"Huh?" The blonde sat up watching Gaara give a small smile.

"The things from your sandbox. You kept them." He looked over at the other oddities in his box. A few small figures, some foreign currency, seashells and colorful stones and crystals from Naruto's childhood resided there.

Naruto took the item from the demon's hand and stared down at it. "How do you know about that?"

Gaara paused and seemed to be considering Naruto for a moment before answering his question. Naruto watched as the demon slightly fidgeted and tugged at the silver jewelry in his ears.

"I guess you were too young to remember." The demons striking eyes flashed back up to meet Naruto's.

"Remember what?"

"Me"

Oh. Naruto dragged through his onslaught of memories he regained yesterday after seeing his father, nothing popped up.

"Sorry. My memories are still a little jumbled from yesterday." He didn't know why he was apologizing or making an excuse.

"No, now that I think about it you must have been only four or five when I last saw you. The other times I went to visit you were already at school. I didn't really expect you to keep the stuff I hid for you in your sandbox though."

"That was you?"

Gaara hummed in response. Naruto wrestled with what he wanted to say, not really sure if he could tell someone who he didn't really know. It finally came out, he couldn't contain it like he wanted.

"Mom would tell me someone special had left a treasure for me when I got home from school. She'd make a big deal about me having to go on a treasure hunt in my sandbox and all that shit. She'd even help me dig for it. I kinda just figured it was her that hid those things in there when I got older." A huge lump had formed in Naruto's throat, he quickly tried to swallow it away. These things hadn't come from mom. Another illusion that was too good to be true. Another small stain on his memories. He didn't want to be having this conversation.

Gaara noted the disappointment in his eyes. "I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have told you that."

Naruto was silent for a while before he grabbed the old x-men lunchbox and brought it to his lap. "Why'd you do it? Leave stuff for me I mean."

Gaara shrugged. "I was humoring a child."

"Oh" Naruto didn't know what answer he was expecting, but that one made him feel a little more hollow. More disappointment, how refreshing.

The demon stood. "Your mother always told me how excited you would get about finding them and your happiness made her happy. So I guess I just kept doing it to make you both happy."

Naruto watched him walk to the door before he paused and spoke again. "You should come eat something. You've been asleep all afternoon, so we can start your training tomorrow instead."

Wrath disappeared leaving the half breed with his thoughts. Naruto had half a mind to toss the items when he first learned they weren't exactly from his mother. He stared at the different coins and small stones as he thought back to his mom playing with him outside in their backyard, digging around in search of whatever was hiding underneath. No, he would keep them. They still reminded him of good things, regardless of who they came from. He closed the box and set it aside as he got out of bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He slowly let what his mentor had said replay in his head as he wandered to the kitchen. Those things had also made his mother happy because they had made him happy. It was a strange sentiment that the very person responsible for some small form of joy for him as a child was now standing in the kitchen cooking him dinner. It made Naruto feel like a douche for not remembering him at all.

"Thank you"

"Hmm?" The demon turned from the stove to give a questioning look at the half breed.

"Just… thanks. You know, for back then..."

Gaara nodded and Naruto eventually took to trying to filling silence with mindless chatter as they ate so his brain would stop lingering on things that made his heart hurt. He had enough of his stupid emotions for one day.  
_

"This is the most exhausting thing I have ever been forced to do in my life." Naruto groaned in frustration as he threw himself to the ground.

Gaara believed it. It was a lot to throw on someone so suddenly and he understood at this point the blonde had way too many physical limitations. The demon quickly assessed Naruto's strength to be agility and physical skill over the mental and strategy aspects, so they started there. Improving his endurance and building muscle and flexibility through miles of running, cardio, stretching, and extensive bodyweight exercises. Every day the same rigorous training all morning long, and in the evening he would teach him martial arts forms. Gaara was surprised at how fast Naruto picked that part up. He figured it would be good to focus on more fighting techniques for hand to hand combat, it would be useful in the trials.

"You've fought quite a bit before." Gaara made an observation.

"Yeah…. I had to learn how to defend myself as a kid." Naruto slightly evaded going into any more detail by bringing up some pointless questions to talk his way around it. The demon understood he felt uncomfortable about talking in regards to his personal past. Gaara didn't comment on it any further and continued teaching the techniques.

There were a few other things in the first month of living together that Gaara had the displeasure of learning about the half breed. Naruto forgot to eat even on his good days, and when he was reminded to eat he devoured almost everything put in front of him. It was like he never had a meal in his life, which now that Gaara thought about it, may have been somewhat the case while he was growing up in foster care. The other significantly annoying thing about Naruto was that he hated mornings. He was impossible to wake up. I mean he may as well have died in his sleep because the demon was besides himself on how to get him out of zombie mode. Gaara had to begin getting creative in ways to wake the half breed up for early morning training sessions, which may have resulted in Naruto having to deal with being flung out of bed as his mattress was flipped over in a rude awakening on a daily basis.

According to Naruto, Gaara was a raging insomniac and workaholic who paid an annoying amount of attention to detail. Gaara could live with that normally, but with the blonde now knowing that it meant Naruto found out he can passive aggressively piss the demon off. Constantly shuffling the books in the library out of their alphabetical order or turning all the frames in the apartment slightly askew so Gaara would have to stop everything he was doing just to fix it. Naruto said it was payback for being woken up every day at such an ungodly hour. Gaara eventually added sparring in which the half breed ended up spending more time getting knocked on his ass than anything else. Gaara in turn deemed it payback for placing his things out of order. The end of the sessions usually were followed by the blonde muttering about how he was dreading having to do this for the rest of the year and the demon with a smug expression.

Gaara really wasn't as intimidating as Naruto had originally thought, only reserved. He looked like he could kill you and probably could kill you, no doubt about it, but Naruto knew there was way more to him than just that.

"Stop doing that."

"Doing what?" Naruto looked up confused at what it was the demon wanted him to stop.

"Hiding behind a smile. You can do that to other people but don't do it to me. I'm tired of you trying to dance around your emotions and lying to me about them."

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks that morning looking at his mentor dumbfounded. Gaara barely glanced at him as they descended in the elevator. He blinked trying to understand. Hiding his emotions and issues behind smiles and jokes had become second nature to him, he hadn't realized that Gaara was irritated by it. His smile faltered as he considered what the demon had just told him. Would it be ok to let someone know how he really felt? Wouldn't that just push them away? Kiba was the only one who had really ever gotten a glimpse at how fucked up Naruto was and what he really felt, but even that was just a glimpse. Everyone loved happy people, and happy Naruto was easy to get along with. Nobody wanted to deal with a broken person.

"I-... uhh.."

"As your mentor I need to know your emotional state to better be able to help you. It's annoying when you try to cover it up."

"Oh" Naruto stared down at his feet.

Silence.

"Sorry" The blonde spoke again, unsure of what else to say.

"I understand your apprehension. I'm not the best example of expressive emotion either. How about we agree to both work on it?"

"Ok" This time the smile didn't return to Naruto's face.

To say that the training had gotten easier in the second month would be a complete lie. However Naruto felt his body had seemed to adjust to the level of physical challenges that had been thrown at him. Now he had to focus on the mental aspect of his training too. Gaara made him read books about the different types of demons and figure out hypothetical solutions to situations and learn to create strategies. He suddenly found himself missing college. History came relatively easy to him and the ability to cram the night before tests or bullshit research papers at his own leasure was cake compared to his new workload. He swore if he had to memorize one more strategic maneuver he would set himself on fire.  
_

"Call him."

"What?" Naruto answered, ripped from his thoughts as he lay sprawled on the floor after their sparring session trying to regain feeling in his limbs.

"It's obviously bothering you. Just call him and talk it out." Gaara held out his cell phone with Minato's contact information ready to dial.

"I-...I'm not ready to deal with it just yet."

"Then call the Uchiha and reconcile with him. You have to start somewhere. All this pent up aggression is throwing you off focus." He scrolled through his contacts to find Itachi's number and tossed it to Naruto.

The blonde stayed silent, knowing that he had been more distracted than normal. He had finally stopped faking smiles around his mentor and it felt so good to not have to pretend everything was perfectly ok all the time. It was however difficult now because Gaara could pick up on when he was feeling particularly conflicted. He finally hit the call button and put the device to his ear.

"Gaara?"

"No, it's Naruto. Um-... I was wondering if Sasuke was there?" He sat up as Itachi responded and called for his brother in the distance.

"Hello?"

"Sasuke"

"Naruto. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah."

"Ok.."

Sigh, "No- well I don't know... I was hoping we could finally talk about all of this."

"Oh... Sure, Can we talk in person though?"

"Yeah, ok."

"There's a coffeeshop by the park. I can meet you there in twenty minutes."

"Ok. See you."

Naruto had pleaded for Gaara to at least walk with him to the shop for moral support. The demon rolled his eyes at the request but didn't fight it any further as they now made their way down the city sidewalk in silence. They approached the shop door and the blonde glanced hesitantly at his mentor.

"Go, I'll be across the street when you're done." Gaara pointed to an empty park bench and all but shoved Naruto through the door.

He glanced around the shop noting that he had arrived before Sasuke so he ordered a coffee for himself and a tea for the Uchiha before settling in a small corner booth that looked like a good place for a private conversation. He really did like Sasuke, after the initial rival phase they had which had been sparked by a difference of opinion in class. Something about opposites attracting and all that fatal romantic bullshit. It was a difficult relationship however, since neither one was particularly keen on being honest with themselves much less each other. They had broken up several times because of it and Naruto knew better than anyone else that it just wasn't going to work out. Not to mention the physical intimacy wasn't even present. Naruto knew there was much more important things in a relationship than that, and he never wanted to rush his ex. He was sure he had his reasons for the apprehensions. It still always made the blonde feel like Sasuke just viewed him as unworthy of that, not good enough to see that private part of the Uchiha. The shop door opened letting in a familiar dark haired figure. Naruto waved as the onyx eyes scanned the shop and found him.

"Hey" Naruto greeted as he pushed the cup of plain green tea in the Uchiha's direction.

"Thanks, and thanks for coming" Sasuke took a seat across Naruto and accepted the beverage, warming his hands with it.

Naruto gave a slight nod as he tried to break the ice. "So, Uh- How have you been?"

"Aside from the scowls of Madara and the intense training you mean?" Sasuke rested one elbow on the table, propping his head up with his hand.

Naruto gave a hearty laugh, as if their suffering was really that comical. "Shit, the training is pretty much killing me too."

"How are things with your mentor?" Sasuke watched Naruto fiddle with the paper sleeve on his coffee cup.

"Good actually. He's surprisingly very supportive despite the fact that he seems like a hardass." Naruto mused, giving a rare genuine smile of fondness that Sasuke had only seen a few times before.

"Hn"

The awkward silence bled into the air around them. Naruto took a tentative sip of his coffee trying to gather himself for the direction the conversation was ultimately headed.

"Uh- So I guess I'm finally ready to talk about everything."

"Listen Naruto, I owe you an explanation. It was wrong of me to just leave like that."

"Woah, that's a first. I'd never thought I'd hear you admit to being wrong about anything." Naruto snorted with a hint of residual bitterness.

"Dobe, I'm trying to apologize. Will you let me finish?"

"Fine, fine."

"I- I guess I sort of got scared and ran away. It's kind of how I've always dealt with stuff. Being close to others is unsettling for me and I-" Sasuke paused and cleared his throat. "Fuck, this is hard for me."

Naruto patiently waited for Sasuke to get himself back together. He knew the asshole well enough to realize that talking about what he felt and trying to explain it to others were like pulling teeth for him. He supposed they were similar in that aspect, hiding emotions and whatnot. Except Sasuke was really cold and heartless at his worst. God, they hated each other so much when they first met. Why they ever thought being in a relationship was a good idea was beyond him. Oh right, the fatal attraction.

"I didn't want to deal with why I was feeling certain things because you really deserve someone who can give you what you need. I- I can't do that for you even though I tried, so I panicked and left. I'm sorry for that." The Uchiha looked down at his hands as he spoke.

"I get the whole running from your problems thing. I just wished you had talked it out with me instead of disappearing like that. It really hurt." Naruto finally responded after a few moments of silence. It was really unfair to keep all this anger towards Sasuke when he was trying so hard to at least make it right.

"Yeah, I regret that. It wasn't my intention to hurt you. I had a lot going on and trying to figure out exactly what I was feeling but I think in the end all of that sort of forced me to just come to terms with all the shit in my life and accept who I am."

"So what you're saying is...?" As usual, Naruto felt dense as ever.

"Well aside from the whole being a half demon thing, I'm...asexual. And I'm sorry I didn't come to terms with it sooner and talk about it with you." Onyx eyes finally found blue at the confession and final genuine apology.

"Oh"

"Don't make this weird."

"No, it's just- I should have picked up on it. I'm sorry for those advances, I didn't mean to make you feel-... Ah, shit." Naruto leaned his head back against the booth.

"Stop. You didn't know. You were just trying to be a good boyfriend. In all honesty though even if you had known we would have broken up eventually. Even though I have romantic feelings you need physical intimacy in your life Naruto. It's just how you are. I understand, but I can't give that to you."

"Yeah, you're probably right. We fought more than a married couple most of the time anyways." Naruto laughed but he knew his ex was right about the physical intimacy. In the end it wouldn't have worked out. Naruto needed affirmation and affection through touch and words. He cradled a burning desire to be wanted and cared for and be told and shown all these things in every way possible.

"I'm sort of hoping we can at least stay close acquaintances…or friends..." Sasuke trailed off slightly before clearing his throat and continuing. "I don't have many people that I'm close to aside from my brother. He thinks having another person to be close to, even in friendship, would be beneficial."

"Sasuke." Naruto looked at the man with a blank expression. He watched a slight flash of anxiety pass the Uchiha's face before his usual emotional mask was back in place. "Teme, of course we can stay friends. It's either that or sworn enemies and I really don't want to be on your bad side when the trials come along"

"Idiot" Sasuke bit back a smile as Naruto let out a small laugh.

They talked for a bit more, catching up on things like how terrible their respective mentors were. According to Naruto, Itachi seemed way nicer because he didn't do things like flip Sasuke's mattress over with him in it at six in the morning or make him run extra miles because he fell asleep in the middle of stretching. Sasuke scoffed and told him to be grateful that Gaara seemed to have patience with him and Itachi wasn't his mentor because the Uchiha would have made him sleep outside for waking up late.

"Well if you would wake up on time and stop being a complete moron I'm sure he'd stop."

"It's not my fault I sleep like the dead and nothing can wake me. You know how I was in the mornings. Kiba practically had to dump me in the shower to get me up on time for my classes."  
Naruto sighed at the thought of Kiba.

He wondered if they had a good Christmas and if he was able to buy the ring to propose to Tenten in Central Park like he had planned. He should probably try to contact Tenten at least and let them know he was alive and sorry.

"How did Kiba take it?" Sasuke finished his now lukewarm tea wondering if his ex would reply.

He didn't. Naruto chugged the rest of his coffee and looked at the clock that hung on the wall. This was as far as their conversation would go tonight. As far as Naruto would let it go before things got messy. It was even the same when they were dating, Sasuke was always shut out from anything that delved deeper than Naruto cared to discuss. Then again, Sasuke wasn't exactly and open book either so at least the blonde knew there was some mutual understanding. Sasuke didn't push. He knew Naruto had the need for keeping some things hidden away because it was too difficult to sort through them. They both stood and tossed their empty cups in the trash. Naruto's smile was back and so was his idiotic banter as they exited the shop and parted ways.

The blonde looked over at the bench across the street. A familiar figure sat under the glow of the park light, absorbed in a book. Naruto turned around and ran back into the coffee shop once more and exited minutes later with a steaming cup. He watched the slender fingers turn the page of whatever boring book his mentor was reading as he approached the bench.

"Thanks for waiting."

"I said I would." Gaara looked up at the cup offered to him.

"Yeah, but still. You didn't have to."

Gaara accepted the hot beverage as Naruto sat down on the bench. They sat in momentary silence as their warm breath created clouds in the chilly evening weather.

"You've reconciled with the Uchiha?"

"Yeah, for the most part. We don't hate each other anymore and I won't have to worry about him killing me during the trials." Naruto let out a long sigh. At least there would be one person he could count on to not purposely send him to his death.

"Do you plan on rekindling your relationship with him?" Gaara's eyes never left his book.

Naruto blushed for some reason. "That's a little personal, don't you think?"

"Maybe." Gaara finally looked up, unapologetic about his question. "You're a big boy and I won't tell you what to do, but I advise against romantic relationships during this time at least. It's extra distraction and stress to what you already have going on."

The half breed broke eye contact, looking away at anything but his mentor. "Don't worry. We worked it out but Sasuke and I are over in that sense. We weren't really that compatible in a relationship anyway."

Gaara simply nodded at Naruto's statement and dropped the subject. Relationships in hell didn't really sound like a smart idea anyway.  
_

Naruto had become friends with a Deadly Sin, as odd as that sounded. Well, he thought they were friends at least. The conversation between them had become more natural and the half breed was trying hard to be honest about his emotions for the most part. Gaara was already able to pick up on how the half breed was feeling just by watching him. It was slightly eerie how well the demon's observation skills were. The more comfortable Naruto got with his mentor the more Wrath's guard slowly fell away, and to Naruto's surprise the demon was able to laugh. It was a shock the first time he heard it, unsure if that deep melodic sound had come from the normally stoic figure.

"Did- Did you just laugh?"

"You would too if you came down to the kitchen at 2am to find someone dancing like an idiot."

The blond put a hand to his chest in mock offense. "I'll have you know I am a fantastic dancer. Dancing like an idiot just happens to be my favorite style."

"Naturally." Wrath gave a small grin as he grabbed a glass of water and disappeared back upstairs.

Naruto felt his face flush as he stood alone now in Gaara's kitchen. He ignored it.

The second time he found his mentor expressing any form of amusement was when Temari and Kankuro had just finished up a meeting and the head of the Sin's personal security took to mouthing off about his boss wasting his time with training 'some stupid kid' like the blonde wasn't even sitting right next to him. The half breed kicked the chair out from under him as Kankuro began to sit back down, watching him topple to the floor. It was then followed by Naruto evading the reach of the hooded demon as he was chased around Gaara's office. Tenmari's eyes widened slightly at the unfamiliar laughter from her boss but made no comment.

"Enough." Wrath finally spoke. Kankuro looked up as he was gripping the blonde in a headlock.

"You saw what the brat did."

"Yes and he had every right to. If you have an issue address it properly with him or keep it to yourself. Don't bad mouth him or act like he doesn't exist." All trace of former amusement was gone as the Sins eyes narrowed, full of warning.

The demon released Naruto from the headlock and left the office grumbling. Naruto stood unblinking, replaying what his mentor had just said. What? He was used to being thought of as worthless and treated like he didn't matter. He had gotten into a lot of fights over it at the foster homes and in school. Eventually he learned to pick his battles and usually shrugged it off and hid behind a smile. This time though Kankuro was asking for it, and Naruto couldn't help but act out a little bit. He really wasn't expecting for the hooded demon to get scolded, more he was half waiting for Gaara to tell him he was running extra in the morning or thirty more minutes of sparring time tonight. Naruto was unsure at how he should react. Should he even feel anything about what Gaara had just said? He decided to ignore it and silently waited for his mentor to finish his paperwork.

The third time he heard the laugh was when they visited the Sin of Sloth and Naruto was knocked to the ground by a pack of oversized hellhounds. Which would have been intimidating, he had not been assaulted by slobbery tongues and covered in drool and dog breath. He looked up from the floor to find the redhead smiling down, soft chuckle escaping his lips at the sight of the blonde ambushed by excited dogs. Kakashi finally called them off as he emerged from a back room in the cluttered apartment, but the half breed would gladly be tackled again if it would make his mentor smile. He shook the thought from his head quickly, and tried to wipe the drool from his face and hair only making it stick up more than normal. No, he's a friend. I like seeing my friends happy. The quick attempt to justify the passing thought came as he desperately worked to push down the warm feeling that began to spread in his chest.

"Well I guess that's one way to get familiar with hell hounds." The demon spoke through his masked mouth as he shooed his pets away.

"Still troublesome if you ask me." The napping figure on the sofa mumbled.

"Shika, I told you we'd be having company today. Get up, this is part of your training too."

Naruto spent the rest of the day learning how to handle hellhounds and how beneficial they were in combat with the Sloth candidate, Shikamaru. He was an easygoing guy who would obviously rather be napping but his sharp mind and intellect were beyond anything Naruto could ever imagine. He'd be fucked if this guy decided to become ambitious enough to try and kill him in the trials. He thought back to what Gaara had told him earlier that week about playing to the strength of his outgoing personality and befriending his fellow competitor. It gave a smaller chance of one of them easily killing him off in the trials. Out of all those competing Shikamaru, Sasuke and the Hyuga were the most lethal and the chances of the Lust Sin letting Hinata interact with the others was slim. He had already faced Sasuke and reconciled whatever it was that was left of their friendship, assured they would look out for each other as best they could in the trials. So at least there was that, but for now he focused on the information the lazy half breed yawned about.  
_

Six months. Halfway through his training and Naruto felt like he couldn't catch his breath. Or maybe that was because he was running and his lungs felt like they were on fire. And his legs felt like they were on fire, and the ground was on fire, and everything was on fire. 'Welcome to hell, this is my life now' Naruto bitterly thought as he slowed his pace, trying to steady his breathing. Seriously, he shouldn't feel this winded. If anything the extensive morning run was actually the one thing he could do without collapsing at the end of anymore. He rubbed at the tightening in his chest willing it to go away. The breathlessness seemed to follow him throughout the day. Climbing stairs, and other simple tasks had left him struggling to control his breathing. It came and went quickly, though it was somewhat frequent. He knew he should have said something, but he was stubborn and admitting he wasn't able to climb the fucking stairs felt like a step in the wrong direction. He had to stay in control and power through it.

"Fuck" Naruto stumbled backwards as Gaara had landed a hit square in the chest.

Gaara stopped, and observed the half breed as he struggled to gain his footing. "You ok?"

Damn it, he knew. Naruto had gotten decent at blocking hits and he was taking an excessive amount of time to stand back up again. He had to get a grip, get back in control, do something right for once. He opened his mouth to let Gaara know he was fine, but no words came out. Instead he found himself gasping for breath, trying to fill his body with oxygen. He couldn't get enough, he was suffocating. Drowning as massive weights tied to his legs dragged him deeper away from the surface. His chest was being crushed by the pressure, and felt his body drop, free falling without a parachute or safety net to assure him he would be ok. So much for control. How was it possible for him to fuck up this much? How was it possible for him to still be this weak? He was always like this though, barely hanging on by threads. No matter how hard he tried he just couldn't get anything right. Stupid. Worthless. Never good enough.

"Naruto"

He knew that voice, the one that seemed to be calling out to him from somewhere. Who did it belong to again? It was hard to think when his brain wasn't getting enough air and the room was spinning every time he tried to open his eyes. He wanted to vomit but wasn't sure anything could come out between the frantic gasps for air. Maybe there was something he could bury himself under instead, that way he wouldn't have to look in the mirror at what a useless sack of shit he was every day. Just hide himself away while his world was slowly burning around him and everything turned to ash. It's not like he could change anything, he couldn't even save himself. If he could get that other voice to shut up maybe he would be able to just pass out. What did it want anyway? Oh wait, it was asking him a question.

"Naruto. Hey, come back to me. What can I do to help you?"

The blonde squinted, blinking away wetness that gathered in his eyes to look up at hypnotizing green eyes. Huh? Where was he again? Help him? Help him with what? Didn't the voice know everything he touched fell apart? His mouth wouldn't work. Words weren't working for him.

"I'm here for you. Can you raise your arms for me?" The voice was asking another question.

Arms? Yeah he could do that. He felt his limbs take an eternity to raise as they seemed to be made of lead. Arms up. Ok. Did this make him better yet? He wasn't sure how his arms would fix the years of chaos that was his life but that voice seemed sure of what to do.

"Good, that's good. Now let's breathe together, ok? In and out, nice and slow."

Inhale, one, two, three, four. Exhale, one, two, three, four. Repeat. Breathing, he was breathing. But he knew how to breathe, didn't he? Right, he couldn't breathe a few moments ago. That's why Gaara was here. Oh yeah, the voice was Gaara. Gaara was trying to help him. Inhale, one, two, three, four. Exhale, one, two, three, four.

"You're doing good. It's ok Naruto, you're safe here. Tell me what I can do to help you."

There was something warm on his cheek wiping at his face lightly. A hand, Gaara's hand specifically. Why was he touching him? Nobody ever wanted to touch him. Wait, he had said something just now. What did Naruto need?

"Water" Naruto finally managed. He was so thirsty. When was the last time he drank water? It felt like years.

"Ok, let's get you some water." He felt a hand at his back and another at his arm as Gaara guided him into the kitchen and sat him down before returning with a large glass of water.

Naruto tried to come back down to earth, well hell if you want to be specific. He knew he'd crash land back into reality if he did and his hands shook as he reached for the glass in front of him, fighting against being catapulted far back into the mental torture that was his subconsciousness. He was in mental limbo, aware but not yet in control of himself. Shit, he fucked up again. He really should have known though. This was not his first meltdown. This was however his worse. He had absolutely no control and it made him want to scream. He glanced over at his mentor who sat next to him. His elbow resting on the counter and his hand propping up his head. Gaara was watching him, with a blank expression. What did he think? He had seen Naruto at his weakest point basically. Would he give up on training him after this? Would he think Naruto was better off dead?

"Sorry" Naruto forced the word to form and spoke after draining the glass of water. He willed his hands to still and avoided eye contact with the demon.

"Naruto. Look at me."

Reluctantly the blonde turned his head up to meet Gaara's line of sight.

"You did nothing wrong." The demon pulled the long sleeve of his shirt down over his hand and gently dried up the leftover tears that streaked across tan skin.

When had Naruto started crying? Probably around the time he started drowning in himself. Great. Fucking perfect.

"I'm here for you, whatever you need. I promise I won't leave unless you tell me to go." Gaara went back to his position of resting his elbow on the counter. "Are you hungry?"

Naruto shook his head at both the statement and question. He wasn't hungry, his stomach kept twisting. Gaara just said he wouldn't leave but Naruto wasn't sure if he really knew what he had said. It was probably just said in effort to get him to not drift back into his dark place. Whatever, I guess it worked for the time being. He knew better than to believe in pretty words and false promises.

"Shower" Naruto cursed himself. He pleaded with his brain to stop speaking in one word responses and give actual sentences like a normal person. He smelled of sweat and B.O and failure and filth. He needed to wash it away and forget. Shower and sleep, the best cure for when your life won't stop spiraling.

"Sure. Would you like some help up the stairs?" The redhead had noticed Naruto was still shaking.

Fuck. Stop it. Stop it, stop it, stop it… Naruto nodded. He knew he wouldn't be able to make it upstairs the way he was still reeling. Weak.

"C'mon. I've got you." Gaara let the half breed lean his weight on him as they climbed up to the second floor and into Naruto's room.

Naruto was instructed to sit at the edge of his bed while the demon started up the water for him. His fingers fumbled as he made a sorry attempt to remove his clothes. Jesus, he was a fucking mess. He tried again, growing more and more frustrated when they refused to stop shaking long enough to grip anything. A set of pale hands appeared, covering his and holding them briefly.

"It's ok." They let go and moved to help Naruto out of his sweaty shirt and then kneeling down to remove the athletic tape that was wrapped around his ankles.

Naruto felt like a child again, needing someone have to help him undress. Embarrassing. A burden. A waste of space. A sudden sensation pulled him from his thoughts. Water? Right, shower. Gaara had helped him into the shower. He let his body lean against the wall and slide down until he was sitting, feeling the drops from the rainfall shower head hit his skin and trickle down. Slowly washing away his muddled thoughts. His mind was beginning to clear. A movement to the side caught his eye, Gaara was pulling out towels from the cabinet under the sink.

"Ca-... Can you stay?" It left Naruto's lips before he could clamp his mouth shut. Fuck. What was he even saying?

"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere." The demon leaned against the counter and crossed his arms as he quirked his head to observe the blonde.

It was an oddly comforting statement. Even if Naruto kept telling himself to take it with a grain of salt. He wanted to believe it was true, especially coming from Gaara. He slightly shook his head, don't think. Just get clean so I can sleep. He stretched his arm for the shampoo, out of reach from his sitting position on the floor. He'd have to get up. He debated if he really wanted to try and stand up just yet. Not really, the water felt nice. More noise to the side, Gaara was taking off his socks and stepping into the shower, grabbing the soap and kneeling beside Naruto to wash his hair.

"You looked like you needed some help. I hope this is ok." Gaara had rolled his sleeves up to run his soapy fingers through the blonde mass of hair.

"Your clothes are getting wet." The sin had left his shirt and sweatpants on, as he knelt on the tile floor to scrub at the half breed.

The demon hummed before his response. "It's just water. They'll survive."

"Then why'd you take off your socks?"

A short laugh sounded behind Naruto as Gaara had moved to scrubbing his back. "I hate getting my socks wet. It feels weird." The demon handed the half breed the soapy washcloth so he could clean his front.

"Does that make me odd?"

"A little." Naruto smiled at the thought of it.

Gaara shrugged. "I guess I can live with that."

Naruto let himself be consumed by the comfort of the extra blankets his mentor had brought him. He was so exhausted in every possible way. Gaara had seen him in full meltdown mode, but he didn't seem to be bothered by it. He hadn't run or freak out like most people usually did. Of course most of his panic attacks never escalated to this level. The demon had stayed through it all until Naruto reassured him he was fine now and just needed some sleep. What exactly did that mean? No. Stop thinking. Just sleep. Sleep and hope that somehow all this weight on his shoulders would feel lighter tomorrow.


	8. Chapter 8

Naruto woke up in bed. Actually in bed, not tossed onto the floor with a flipped mattress or doused in water or literally dragged from the tangled sheets and sprawled across the carpet. He sat up noting the sun that was streaming through the window. It had to have been at least late morning. Had Gaara let him sleep in? Oh yeah, last night was a thing that happened. He stared at the extra blankets on his bed remembering yesterdays events. A buzzing from the nightstand caught his attention. Gaara's phone along with a note and a bottle of water sat there waiting for him. Naruto picked up the paper and recognized the neat handwriting as his mentors.

 _ **Naruto,**_

 _ **I got called into the office for a meeting but I'll be back soon. Take the day off to rest. You're doing well and I'm proud at how much you've improved in just a matter of months. Don't forget to eat. I left my phone with you just in case. Call me at my office if you need anything.**_

 _ **-Gaara**_

Just in case. Just in case he had another episode. Would Gaara really drop everything and come back if Naruto needed him? He stared at the note for a few more moments before grabbing the phone. Gaara had offered to get Naruto a cell phone of his own but he declined. He really didn't have anyone to contact anymore, it would have been a waste. The time on the device showed it was already early afternoon. His initial thought of just going back to sleep was probably not the best idea. Sleep was fantastic, but too much would have the opposite effect on trying to make things better. He knew from experience that avoiding reality by sleeping wasn't really a healthy way to deal with everything. Naruto found himself wandering the apartment, raiding the fridge, and browsing the various bookshelves throughout the office library and living room. Gaara didn't have much in means of things to keep Naruto busy.

He lay sprawled out on the floor looking up at the books neatly lined in their respective shelves. So boring. None of the books had anything that interested the half breed. In all honestly reading was not really his idea of fun in the first wasn't even a TV in the entire damned apartment. Naruto would have given anything for access to an xbox. He let out a groan and stared at the top shelf willing for something entertaining to appear. A small photo album hidden between what looked like ancient leather bound books on the very top shelf eventually caught his attention. What was that doing there? It seemed so out of place. He pulled it down and sat on the sofa to take a look at whatever photos Gaara found important enough to hide away on the top of his bookshelf. He turned to the first page and found a note with curvy hand writing underneath the clear protective cover.

 _Just cause I love to piss you off. Here's what having fun looks like! Take some vacation time so maybe I can make an entire album of us doing fun stuff, you work addict._

 _-Shizune 3_

 _P.S- My only request is that if you jerk off to her photos use the ones I don't come out in. Ya nasty..._

The fact that Shizune was still alive after teasing Gaara the way she did was amazing. He turned the page and looked at all the pictures of the witch and some other beautiful woman in various places around New York. There were some at the Empire State Building, some at the Brooklyn Bridge, a few wacky ones in Times Square where they both were sticking their tongues out and scrunching up their faces or feeding each other hot dogs. Just pictures of them, having fun, silly poses, trying on outrageous hats. A few towards the end were just of the other woman, dark skin and freckles framed by short neon green hair in what might have been Central Park. One in particular seemed to have been handled more than the rest, the edges bent and worn from being taken out of it's protective sleeve and put back multiple times. It was a simple portrait picture of her smiling, with the sunlight filtering through a tree she was sitting under. Gaara never really mentioned much about his personal life now that Naruto thought about it. It seemed like everything had been focused on training and what Naruto needed. Who was this person that held some importance to the demon? The photos weren't that old, maybe taken in the 90's since there were a few polaroids mixed in with the other developed ones. Did Gaara still have her in his life like that? Where was she then? Wait, no. Why did Naruto care? He didn't. Nope. He promised himself not to catch feelings. Fuck. He wrestled with his realization of emotions. Okay, so maybe he cared. He really did not want to ask Gaara though. He flipped through the pages again before the idea came to him.

Naruto scrolled through the contacts in Gaara's phone to find Shizune's number but her name wasn't under his list. The only one that he could think of was a contact named 'Witch'. He hesitated. Calling someone who might end up not being Shizune would be a bad idea. It's not like it was an important question or anything, but damn, he really wanted to know. He tapped the message icon to look for any texts from that number just to double check he wasn't going to be calling someone who'd curse him because it ended up being the wrong witch. Turns out 'Witch' was the last person Gaara had messaged. He opened up the conversation.

 _2:15 am_

 **Gaara:** You still up?

 **Witch:** At your beck and call, you tiresome overlord.

Yeah, that was Shizune. No one else gave Gaara lip like that without reprimand. He called the number and listened to it ring once before she answered.

" _I feel so special. You almost never call me and this is the second time within twenty four hours._ "

"Sorry Shizune, it's Naruto"

" _Oh! Sorry hun. What's going on? You're not in any immediate trouble or anything right? Cause I am really not the best person to call when you are in trouble in hell. I'm more the kind of person you call to get you into trouble…_ " She trailed off and somehow Naruto knew she wasn't fully joking on that matter.

"No. No trouble. I just had a question and I kinda didn't want to ask Gaara." He laughed nervously hoping she would hear him out.

" _Oh? You needed an unfiltered answer from an expert, I see. Shoot._ "

"Well, I found some old photos of you and another girl with green hair and I was curious as to who she was." His fingers lightly trailed over the pages of photos with the person in question.

" _Ah. I'm surprised Gaara showed you the album I put together for him._ "

"I sort of found it actually… He's not here right now…." Hopefully Naruto wouldn't get in trouble for finding it. Something about the album made him feel like it was for Gaara's eyes only.

" _You sneaky little shit._ " She cackled. " _Well it's kind of a complicated story. The green haired woman is actually my best friend, Fuu. Her and Gaara were a thing for a while. It didn't end to good._ "

"Oh, I didn't really take him for the relationship type of guy."

" _Meh. He hides his feels well and is really good at restraining himself. He was a bit of a player in his ruthless half demon days before her. He's calmed down a lot though and has developed this aversion to meaningless sex and relationships ever since._ " She explained with her bored tone like she talked about Gaara's love life on a daily basis.

"Ruthless half demon days?" So Gaara was a brutal half demon before he became Wrath. How did Naruto not know any of this?

" _That's a story for him to tell you... Anywho_ , _what made you so curious about her? I'm almost positive there isn't even a photo of them together. It's just a bunch of pictures of us having fun without him._ "

"Your little note on the front page…" He muffled some of his laughter as he re-read it.

Shizune burst out in laughter. " _Damn, I had forgotten about that. Fuck, he's gonna kill me one of these days._ " She gave a small pause before speaking again. " _So… you're into him then?_ "

"Huh?" How had she figured that out so quick. Naruto was barely figuring out himself just how much he liked Gaara, how much of it wasn't just simple physical attraction and how he probably couldn't ignore it like he had been for much longer.

" _I mean you wouldn't be asking about his past love life if you weren't interested in him, am I right?_ "

Naruto was silent for a little too long to play it off with a lie. "I guess. I mean he's really great and really attractive and it's so unfair when he spars without a shirt on, or when he's cooking and does that little thing where-..." Fuck. What was he saying? The blond stopped himself short and cleared his throat. "...but I don't know that it'll ever be anything else past that."

" _That's a shame._ "

"What? Why is it a shame?"

" _Cause he's dying to fuck you, you idiot. God he wasn't lying when he said you had a one track mind sometimes_." Naruto could practically hear the facepalm on her behalf.

"He is? He talks about me? To you?" He felt like a sixteen year old again, finding out his high school crush liked him back. His face heated up, he had to know. What did Gaara say about him?

" _I have to call and threaten it out of him but yeah. It usually starts out as complaining that I'm invading his privacy but it's kinda cute actually when he gets all flustered cause you did something he found adorable. Or concerned about you and worried about how you're dealing with everything. He's usually the type of guy who'd do things but not get too invested, especially emotionally. Yet with you… He really cares for some reason._ "

Naruto felt his mouth open and close a few times. Gaara was concerned about him. Genuinely enough to talk to Shizune about it. He cared on more than just a mentor-student level. "He was the one who said relationships weren't a good idea right now so I should avoid them."

" _Of course he said that. I'm gonna turn him into a racoon next time I see him."_ Shizune sighed in apparent aggravation with the demon.

"He's probably right though, getting into a relationship right now isn't a good idea."

" _Getting into a relationship is never a good idea, doesn't mean you should just ignore what you're feeling. Look, you should know by now that he's a demon of logic and reasoning. He'll follow his brain before ever following his heart. It's a flaw he has. Don't let it rub off on you, he's always denying himself things because of something stupid like his logic or whatever."_

"Can I ask why they broke up?" Naruto spoke after a few moments of silence.

" _Hmmm… That's a tough one to answer._ _Long story short, I think Fuu was more in love with her idea of who Gaara should be than Gaara himself. If you think your mentor is intimidating now you should have seen him back then. He was a fucking terrifying mass of hate like 95% of the time. So when Gaara decided to try to change for the better and make decisions in that regard Fuu wasn't having it. She likes attention and wants her bad boys to be powerful and menacing and maintain that reputation. He wanted to better himself, she didn't agree with it and they ended things._ "

"Oh. I never would have guessed." That information made Naruto a little sad.

" _Of course it's also a hundred times messier because Fuu is a vindictive bitch who will take a grudge to her grave, and I remind her of that on the daily, but a lot of other shit went down. So yeah, that's the basis of it._ " The sounds of her typing at a keyboard were heard over the quiet that followed her story.

"Do they hate each other?" Naruto asked in a small voice for some reason.

" _Nah. I know she doesn't and I mean, Gaara might get annoyed with her but I don't think he could ever hate her. Not really. She's the whole reason he decided he wanted to change in the first place. Something about needing to try to become someone who was worthy of love despite all he'd done. It's a strange desire for the current embodiment of hell's fury don't you think?_ "

"Naruto? I'm ho-... I'm back." Shit, Gaara had almost said 'I'm home'.

That was such a domestic phrase. An oddly foreign notion for him. As if Naruto was some significant other, in love, and desperately waiting for Gaara's return. Naruto wasn't either of those. The demon frowned and fought to push down the sliver of hope that kept trying to tell him 'not yet, at least'. _Not ever_ , he denied himself the satisfaction of entertaining that idea. Naruto shouldn't be getting tangled up in any more trouble. Not if he wanted to be able to survive.

The sin wandered into the living area to find the half breed lightly snoring on the sofa. A book rested open on his stomach from where he must have been reading before he dozed off. Gaara let out a long sigh, the blond had looked exhausted last night. In all honesty he sensed something had been off with him yesterday but the demon hadn't wanted to push it. Maybe he should have, maybe he could have prevented Naruto from falling into whatever bad place he had hidden inside him. Maybe he could have done more to help him. He picked up the book and set it on the coffee table before grabbing a blanket and draped it over the sleeping figure. He leaned against the back of the sofa watching Naruto's chest rise and fall with every breath. Gaara instinctively began to lightly brush the locks of golden hair that had fallen onto his face out of the way before stopping abruptly and retracting his hand.

"What am I doing?" He chided himself softly.

Don't get attached, it'll make things harder. It was a piece of self advice given far too late. He was way in over his head, and despite his forced denial, he knew deep down he was officially fucked. To be completely honest he was fucked the minute he made eye contact with Naruto in the stadium and felt like he had a thousand volts of lightning surge through his body, last night was just when Gaara finally accepted it and knew there was really nothing else he could do about it. Fuck. His. Life. He abruptly turned in search of a distraction, he had to keep physical distance until he could get himself back in check. He changed into some sweatpants and decided to give himself some time to work out his frustration with a chinese broadsword.

He let himself plunge into his thoughts and over analyzing his problem over again hoping he would gain some new insight this time around. He had called Shizune late last night after Naruto had fallen asleep. Normally he wasn't one to confide his worry in someone else but it was all too familiar for him. He more than understood how destructive the subconscious could be and how it ruthlessly tore you apart from the inside. Shizune said to lighten up on the training for a few days, and let the half breed catch his breath. Gaara was still deeply concerned about Naruto. According to the witch, there was nothing much he could do aside from just being there for him. Unfortunately, he knew she was right.

 _Step, step, crouch_.

He still couldn't get the image of a completely broken Naruto out of his head.

 _Pivot, step, step, lunge, thrust sword._

Tears streaming down from perfect endless ocean eyes.

 _Swing back, side step, arms out_.

Suffocating in himself, drowning in his own mind.

 _Step, step, jump, spin, kick._

Violently shaking, losing the fight against his crushing thoughts.

 _Back step, side lunge, thrust sword._

Gaara hadn't been able to help him, protect him.

 _Step, step, high kick._

Fuck. It pained him to see Naruto like that, he never wanted Naruto to experience that again.

 _Run, jump, swing sword._

The sound of ripping material and sand spilling to the floor brought Gaara back to his surroundings. Shit. The bottom half of a punching bag lay on the floor covered in a mess of weighted sand. He had mindlessly sliced through one of his favorite pieces of workout equipment.

"Rough day at work?" a voice groggy with sleep came from behind the demon.

Wrath turned to find Naruto rubbing at his eyes, hair standing up in all directions from his napping position on the couch. Gaara couldn't help but think it was cute. Fuck, no. Not cute. Not helping.

"Yeah, something like that." The sin turned back to stare at the mess he made and tried to compose himself more than anything.

"You did that with a practice broadsword? That thing isn't even remotely sharp." Naruto was now leaning against the wall, eyeing his mentor.

Gaara stared down at the weapon in his hand. "Well, I had hoped that by using a practice one it would prevent this sort of thing. I guess not."

"Remind me to not royally piss you off. I'd like to not be decapitated by practice broadsword." Naruto laughed and grabbed the broom and dustpan that stood in the corner of the training room.

Gaara gave a snort. "You know I could never hurt you."

Shit. That was a bit of an intimate statement. What was wrong with him? Gaara made himself busy by returning the weapon to its proper place hoping the redness of his face would die down quickly.

"Yeah, I know." The blond answered quietly sporting a blush of his own as he helped sweep up the sand.

"Did you sleep ok?" Gaara gave a side glance at Naruto as he brought some trash bags over.

"Yeah. Thanks for letting me sleep in and rest today. I didn't mean to fall asleep again on the sofa but I guess the book was kind of boring." Naruto gave a teasing grin, knowing that book in particular was one of the demons favorites.

The redhead rolled his eyes and tied off the trash bag once they finished cleaning up. He turned to take the bag to the side of the room but was stopped short by a hand on his arm.

"Seriously though. Thank you for last night… I've never really had anyone be of much help during a panic attack so I end up dealing with it on my own usually, but I don't think I would have been ok if you hadn't been there. So yeah, thanks for not leaving me." The blond nervously shifted on his feet and stared at the ground avoiding eye contact. His hand still lingered on the demon's arm.

Gaara dropped the bag and turned to fully face the half breed. At the blond's words he was reminded of how utterly shattered Naruto had looked yesterday. Gaara of all people knew exactly what it was like to be completely alone. How terrifying it was to not have anyone to pull you back up if you fucked up, and how disheartening to know that nobody cared anyway. He had gone through it many times before.

"Naruto, you are a lot stronger than what you give yourself credit for. I'm here for you, whatever you need. I won't go unless you tell me to." He repeated what he had said yesterday, fully meaning it.

Naruto nodded and helped Gaara drag the bags to the side of the training room in silence.

"Have you eaten?" Gaara spoke again as he walked into the kitchen with the blonde in tow.

"Yeah, kinda. I had some cereal when I woke up at like two…" Naruto mumbled.

The demon sighed, "That's not what I would consider an actual meal but I guess it's better than nothing."

The half breed stayed quiet, watching his mentor make dinner. While Gaara normally welcomed the silence it was out of character for Naruto. The demon considered him for a moment before speaking.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really...no."

"Ok"

"But I know I probably should…." Naruto finally muttered after a few long seconds.

Gaara gave a quick glance in acknowledgement but continued preparing their meal.

"I guess I've just been overwhelmed… and I know that holding all of it in doesn't really help. Sorry, I didn't mean to lose it like that."

"Don't be sorry. You aren't at fault." Gaara interjected and stopped mid chop to turn around and face the half breed.

"Yeah, I guess. It's just hard to not feel like it's my fault for losing control. I've been alone since I was ten, I just feel like I should be able to keep it together by now." Naruto scrubbed his face with his hands before leaning forward and resting his head on the marble counter in defeat.

"You're not alone anymore, Naruto. It's ok to not be in control all the time. There is no shame in being overwhelmed and having to take a step back either." Gaara resumed preparing the food as he spoke.

"Easy for you to say. Your the almighty demon, sin of Wrath. You don't know what it's like to be weak and worthless."

The demon paused and stood in silence for a moment gripping the knife in hand before responding.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I have no way of knowing exactly what you are going through and compared to your life right now I understand how you would perceive me as always in control. But I'm not." Gaara dropped the knife onto the cutting board and turned back around to face the half breed.

"I was half human once, Naruto. I remember exactly what it's like to be weak, worthless and unwanted."

Thick silence filled the kitchen. Naruto pointedly dropped his gaze like a child being scolded, Gaara observed him before letting his expression soften. He didn't mean to come off harsh.

"Sorry" Naruto finally spoke, obviously embarrassed.

"It doesn't matter. The point is you aren't alone. I might not comprehend your exact emotions but I can relate to what you've been through." The demon pulled out a pan and set it on the stove.

"Can you tell me about it? When you were like me I mean.." the blond spoke after a few moments.

"Some other time. I don't want to bore you with my sob story." Gaara could practically feel Naruto rolling his eyes at the sarcastic comment.

He heard Naruto scoff and watched him lay his head back down on the counter. The redhead approached him and playfully flicked Naruto's head.

"Besides I'm supposed to be helping you feel better right now. So, would you like to go watch a movie after dinner?"

The blond perked up at that and looked at his mentor. "Really?"

The demon nodded watching how Naruto smiled wide at the suggestion. Naruto had mentioned before how much he missed mundane things like watching TV and going to the movies. He knew how genuine that smile was, how his eyes lit with real excitement, how it radiated from Naruto. It was like the sun had exploded and melted Gaara's insides along with everything else. This was how he loved to see Naruto. This was how Naruto deserved to be all the time. If Gaara had struggled with finding a purpose for his life before, he sure as hell knew exactly what he was meant to do with it now.

"Gaara, do I really have to wear this?" Naruto tugged at the collar of the button up dress shirt and frowned at his reflection in the mirror.

"Yes, stop fidgeting with it." The redhead swatted his hands away and re-adjusted Naruto's tie.

The blond sighed, unhappy to be dressed in a suit. It felt so strange to be in formal clothing when most of his life he had been lucky to get hand me downs that were free of stains. His hair had been brushed down, and he felt so out of place next to Gaara who looked like he was born to wear that burgundy suit tailored to fit him so perfectly. Even the demons hair was styled in a messy way that fit his look so well. Naruto watched his mentor absently suck on the curved barbell in his lip as he concentrated on tying his own black tie. He smiled at the habit he loved catching the demon do while he was focused on something.

"You're staring at me." Gaara finished the windsor knot as he spoke.

"I can't stare at you?" Naruto challenged playfully.

"Depends on why you're staring in the first place."

Naruto hummed in amusement, "I'm just admiring how nice you look in a suit."

"Then by all means, ogle away." The demon deadpanned as he fixed his cuffs, finally satisfied with his presentation. "Ready?"

Naruto sighed again, not wanting to have to spend the evening in a stiff suit mingling with other demons and entities he couldn't really care less to meet. "I feel ridiculous."

Gaara came to stand behind the blond, placing a hand lightly on his shoulders and staring at their reflections. "I'm sorry you feel uncomfortable. It's just for a few hours, and I promise you look anything but ridiculous."

The demon gave a rare reassuring grin and exited the room. He followed his mentor into the living room to stand in front of the elevator as Gaara prepped to make the portal.

"Be careful. Not all of the entities attending the Order's yearly gala have good intentions. Come find me if you feel uneasy. Also please don't throw your father through a window if he comes up to talk to you, you've been avoiding him for too long." Gaara pointed to the sigil engraved on the elevator doors and allowed the blue portal to appear.

They stepped through into an elegant lobby, ornate chandeliers hung from the tall ceilings and ethereal beings mingled with demons in sleek suits and fae in elegant dresses and tuxedos. Long wide glass windows gave view to the vast New York cityscape, lights twinkling in the distance and waiters moved about carrying trays of champagne and hor dourves. Gaara was immediately swept up in unwanted conversation by some members of the Order the minute he stepped across the threshold into the large event area. Naruto waved him off not really wanting to be a third wheel to boring political chatter. Instead he moved into the massive room amazed at the sheer size and elaborate decor. A large dance floor which occupied dozens of waltzing couples stood in the middle and a complete orchestra playing live music was positioned up front. Tables and chairs and a buffet of food so fancy Naruto was sure he couldn't even pronounce half the dishes were lined on the right side of the dance floor and a full bar was to the left. The majority of people standing and talking seemed to hover in that area, drinks in hand and elegant dresses sparkled in the light.

"May I have your attention." The music had faded out and a tall angel with orange hair and multiple facial piercings stood before the musicians, microphone in hand.

"I want to welcome and thank you all for coming to our annual gala. This year we are proud to host it in New York." A small applause interrupted the being momentarily. "This is a special year as well, hell is going through their Seven Sin selection trials and the fae just had their Midsummer Coronation. Best of luck to all trial competitors and congratulations to the new fae king. May you all receive divine blessings. Let us enjoy tonight and celebrate another year of harmony among our realms!"

There was an outburst of applause and the music picked back up again in a fast swing rhythm. Dance partners took to the floor again and the mingling was ignited further. Naruto plucked a glass of champagne from a server's tray more to give his hands something to do than anything else. He casually sipped on it until he found a familiar witch and half breed. Shizune gripped him in a hug and Sasuke grunted in greeting obviously peeved that his brother had dragged him to this event. Shizune entertained them with her narration on major fashion don'ts she kept spotting and running her mouth about the gossip floating around. None of which Naruto or Sasuke particularly cared for but her crude humor and salty comments left the blond in fits of laughter and even the Uchiha was smirking a bit.

"He doesn't look like he's having a good time." Naruto watched Gaara from afar.

"He probably isn't, he's so anti social. He only shows up to these things because he has to. Fucking party pooper." The witch rolled her eyes.

"Reminds me of someone I know." Naruto poked Sasuke in the arm and heard him give an indignant huff.

"Quick, hide me!" Shizune ducked behind the two half breeds as a tall man with a devilish smile and slicked back hair passed them.

"I thought you and Hidan were a couple." Sasuke watched the man glance around, obviously looking for someone.

"Fuck no. That was decades ago. I mean he's great in bed but I kinda hate the Order with all of my being so we stopped seeing each other when he took up this ridiculous position." She peeked over the blonde's shoulder as she spoke.

"Ok, but why are you hiding then? I mean unless you're embarrassed by the High Priest?"

"I'm not embarrassed! I just would rather avoid this interaction if at all possible…." She shot back at the Uchiha.

"Right. Well, I'm going to go find Itachi. Have a good evening Naruto." Sasuke moved at just the right time so Shizune was left exposed and Hidan was staring right at her.

Naruto heard his ex sneer as he dashed away from the witch and the immediate string of curses that spilled from her mouth.

"Get back here duck butt!" She raged at the now absent Uchiha before frantically turning to the blond. "Shit! Cover for me!" Shizune hurried off in a panic as Hidan was trying to make his way back through the crowds towards them.

Naruto stood there like an idiot, unsure if he should just walk away too. Probably. A voice asked him a question, out of breath from trying to dart through the mass of demons, angels, fae and other creatures.

"Where did she go?" Hidan pleaded slightly, eyes still trying to scan the room.

Naruto simply pointed in the opposite direction the witch had gone and the High Priest ran that way without a word of thanks. The blond let out a sigh, he was tired of rubbing elbows with elite beings and his tie was starting to bother him. He could really go for some pizza right now. Greasy, cheesy, messy, delicious pizza. Not these nasty crackers with caviar or dainty hor dourves so small he didn't even need to chew them. He shoved his hands into his pockets and began to wander through the crowd, just people watching really. I mean if you could even call half of these beings people in the first place. He paused when he saw a flash of familiar blond hair talking with the Sloth demon. Gaara was right and he knew it. He had been avoiding his father for far too long. He couldn't continue to put it off for much longer, he couldn't continue to ignore the messages left for him on Gaara's phone telling him Minato was there whenever Naruto was ready to talk. At least here he wouldn't be tempted to have an outburst and cause a scene in the middle of the gala, right? He took a deep inhale and walked over in the direction of Minato.

"Excuse me Kakashi," The demon pulled away from his conversation the minute Naruto came up to him.

"Hey.." Naruto shuffled nervously on his feet as his father now stood in front of him.

"Hi. How are you?"

"Alright, I guess." The half breed still had his hands tucked into his pockets as the air of awkwardness floated around them.

"That's good. I hope you and Gaara are getting along well enough. He says you're improving at a rapid rate so that's good." Minato offered a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm getting the hang of it." Naruto cleared his throat a few times.

"I'm glad"

The uncomfortable silence was next to unbearable but he knew he had to face it. He had to stop hiding. Just get the words out, open your mouth and speak.

"So.. I guess I wanted to ask if maybe you'd like to...uh.. talk about everything sometime… I think I'm ready, if you're up for it..." Naruto struggled through the sentence. Every part of his being wanted to run in the opposite direction but he knew better than to give in to it.

"Oh. Sure. Whenever you'd like." The demon nodded.

"T-tomorrow?" He forced the word out. The sooner the better, that way he'd have no time to chicken out.

Minato smiled. "Of course. You can come over for dinner and we can talk."

"Ok." Naruto considered asking if Gaara could come too, but he stopped himself. Gaara would decline, saying something about Naruto needing to do this on his own or whatever. It didn't help that he would have been right by saying that anyway.

"Minato!" An ominous dark haired demon called out capturing the attention of both blondes.

"Madara" Minato exhaled in what could only have been disappointment at being interrupted.

"A word please." The powerful demon beckoned for Minato to follow as he walked off to the edge of the room.

"Right, sorry Naruto. I'll see you tomorrow?" He gave a hopeful look.

Naruto nodded in confirmation and watched his father disappear after the Uchiha. He continued through the crowd wondering what the chances were that he could escape and get some real food were. Slim. Maybe he could convince Gaara? His mind was rambling. Any random thoughts to take over and try to keep himself from freaking out that tomorrow he'd finally have to face his past and there was a huge possibility he wouldn't like what he'd have to talk about and remember. He refused to panic over it right now. He entertained himself with watching drunk fae and dancing demons before growing bored and decided to find Gaara. It didn't take long, he heard Shizune's laughter right away and figured she must be messing with the demon. He weaved through the multitude of well dressed figures and found his mentor frowning at whatever Shizune was making fun of him for. He joined them for a bit before finally deciding to ask Gaara if he could leave. He never got the chance though as he found himself being yanked away from his mentor.

"Let's make ourselves scarce. Trust me this isn't a conversation you want to be around for…" Shizune grabbed Naruto by the elbow and tugged him around the corner but still within earshot of Gaara and the tall angel who approached him.

"Who's that and why does Gaara seem like he's gonna smite him on the spot?"

"An arc angel, goes by the name Deidara. He's a pain in the ass and almost killed Gaara way back. Smug fucker loves to get Gaara riled up whenever he has the chance and it usually ends up in a few destroyed cities and "natural" disasters." Shizune whispered as they hid.

"Well, well. It's been far too many decades, almost an entire century! You're looking alive and well since we last met, eh? I do have to say the way your face looked after being imbedded into the side of a mountain was a masterpiece. True art, eh?" the angel tossed his long blond hair over a shoulder and laughed.

"I see your wings grew back eventually. Pity, I prefered you as a disgraced flightless. I can rip them off again if you'd like." The demon answered in a bored tone that obviously struck a nerve in the holy being as the angels eye twitched with the response.

"Savage," Shizune commented under her breath as she continued to watch the interaction. "For an angel, having their wings removed by any means is considered the ultimate dishonor. Gaara had them pinned and mounted in his office for the longest time. He's highly hated and feared among the angels for that by the way."

"Shouldn't we stop them before they try to kill each other again?" Naruto asked worriedly.

"And deprive this boring event of some juicy drama?!"

Naruto frowned at her and glared pointedly. "Seriously..."

"Fine, fine. Stay here." Shizune darted off into the crowd away from the entities in question.

What...Where was she going? Naruto turned back to his mentor. Should he step in? So far it was just a verbal conversation, although you could feel the aggression pouring from them. A few guests who recognized the two kept glancing their way in hopes of witnessing some drama unfold.

"I hear you have a contender in your brutal little sin competition. It will be a pleasure watching him die a painful death in those trials like the obscene abomination deserves, eh? How you can let a filthy degenerate like that live is beyond me."

Gaara's bored expression was gone, replaced by something sinister. "Watch your mouth"

Where was Shizune? Naruto glanced around the room hoping to catch sight of her. This was escalating faster than anticipated. The witch was nowhere to be found. What the hell?

"Really Gaara, I can kill him myself and save you the trouble, eh?"

"You so much as breathe on him and not even the seraphim will be able to save you." The demon could have cut someone with how sharp his words came out.

Ok, time to intervene. Everyone in the surrounding area felt the shift in power as Deidara smirked with the challenge and allowed his energy to surge. Naruto quickly made his way over to his mentor.

"There you are! I've been looking for you. Lord Pride needs to talk to you, c'mon." The blonde placed a hand on the demon's shoulder and nodded in the opposite direction, hoping he'd walk away from the angel.

"Well, maybe a scum sucking half breed but at least he looks like he was sculpted by the divine. I wonder how beautiful he would look with my foot crushing his skull..." The angel eyed Naruto and reached out to grab at the blonde's chin.

Gaara halted the unwanted advance and gripped Deidara by the wrist. Naruto could hear the crushing of bones as his mentor gripped tightly and threw the angel's hand back at him harshly. Gaara released a sizable amount of power causing another shift in the atmosphere.

"Keep your hands to yourself." He growled, he had now stepped in front of Naruto.

A familiar voice spoke out. "Damn, no chill guys." Shizune stood with her hands on her hips fully amused at the interaction.

"Deidara. I told you not to go looking for him." A short red head spoke, standing next to the witch.

"C'mon Sasori, you know I had to say hello. It would have been rude not to speak with him, eh?"

"Yahiko specifically said not to cause any disruptions tonight. Let's go."

"Yeah, yeah. See you around." Deidara gave a wink and cradled his broken wrist as he wandered into the crowd.

"My apologies Lord Wrath. Please have a pleasant evening." The figure said emotionless and turned to follow the angel into the crowd.

"Sorry, I had a hard time finding that damned Fae King." Shizune offered before shooing the small crowd off.

Gaara gave a grunt and turned to walk off away from the dance floor and crowds of people.

"Honestly Gaara, you usually don't get aggressive so fast. What the hell was that about?" The witch moved to block his path.

"Nothing."

Shizune side eyed Naruto and raised a brow quizzically. "What did the angel say?"

"Drop it, Shizune." Gaara stormed off without another word.

Naruto sighed and halted the witch from chasing after the demon. "It's ok, he just needs to chill for a bit."

"Did he threaten you or something?" She scoffed but didn't follow Gaara and turned back to the blond instead.

"Yeah..kinda. He was just being an ass and trying to get Gaara mad, which worked I guess."

"Well that explains why he went from zero to sixty in point three seconds." She laughed and patted Naruto on the back. "Go find him. Get him out of here before he bites someone's head off. He's officially reached his limit of social interaction for the evening."

He watched the witch saunter off before she turned back to make one last comment. "And hurry up and make a move before I have to intervene! Trust me, you don't want me to intervene…"

Naruto dramatically rolled his eyes and waved her off as he urned to follow where he saw his mentor disappear. It took him a few minutes but he found Gaara avoiding people, trying to hide by a large window. Whether the demon sensed Naruto's approach was unclear, but there was no surprise when the blond spoke and put a hand on the redhead's shoulder.

"What do you say we get out of here? I think we have both had our fill of bullshit for tonight."

Gaara breathed out a short laugh and glanced over at the half breed who was now standing next to him staring out the window at the rain that had begun to sprinkle across the glass.

"Besides, I'm dying for some real food and I know this great pizza place in Brooklyn..." He teased and bumped his mentor with his shoulder.

"Alright, come on then"

Gaara sat back and watched with amusement as Naruto stuffed his second slice of pineapple pizza into his mouth. The blond closed his eyes and threw his head back, savoring the flavor as a moan came from his mouth. Gaara could think of a few other situations where he'd like to hear the half breed moan. No, stop. Don't go there. He averted his eyes down at his own slice of plain pepperoni pizza and tried to block out the inappropriate images that begun to invade his mind. The small pizzeria was cozy and he was glad they got a table away from the entrance since customers kept coming in and out to pick up orders and the constant ringing of the bell on the door was kind of driving the demon insane. He took a bite while staring out the shop window at the steady rain that consistently fell on the pavement. They had gone home to change but he had forgotten to grab an umbrella so they ran from the portal to the shop and now their clothes were slightly damp. Naruto didn't seem to mind at all, declaring a race and boasting when he made it to the restaurant first. His laughter set a fire in the demon and it wouldn't go out no matter how hard Gaara tried to smother it.

"I talked to my dad." Naruto spoke between mouthfuls.

"Oh?" Gaara raised a brow waiting for the half breed to continue.

"I'm having dinner with him tomorrow. So we can talk and stuff.."

"Good. I'm proud of you." Wrath caught Naruto's eye and watched a blush spread across his tan face.

"Th-thanks." Naruto mumbled and gave an uncharacterized timid smile.

"What's all that about?"

"What?" Naruto scratched at the back of his head, purposely looking down.

"Why are you acting so shy all of a sudden?" Gaara asked pointedly

"I don't know what your talking about." Naruto proceeded to grab his food and jam it into his mouth again.

The demon just stared at the half breed, waiting for an actual response.

The blond sighed. "I just.. never really had anyone tell me that they were proud of me before. It makes me feel weird."

"Sorry. You should have said so. If it makes you uncomfortable I can stop saying things like that."

"No!" Naruto blurted all too quickly

Gaara raised a brow in confusion.

"It's not a bad weird. It's just… I don't know...I kinda like it but..." the blond trailed off and grabbed his glass to take a drink.

"Do- do you have a praise kink Naruto?"

Naruto choked on his soda, violently coughing. "We haven't even kissed yet! We skipped every single fucking base on the way and missed the home plate yet you're asking that question."

"I didn't take you for a traditionalist when it came to relationships" Gaara deadpanned.

Naruto let his head drop onto the table with a frustrated grunt. "I'm not. You just make me so...arggghh... Never mind."

"Enlightening. Don't hurt yourself with all that thinking." Gaara heard the blond huff in response.

"Please forget I said anything. Just erase it all from your memory."

Gaara laughed and finished his food, but the words Naruto said rang in his mind. This was dangerous water. He shouldn't push things. They exited the pizzeria into the now pouring rain, Gaara hesitated but the blond grabbed him by the hand and darted down the sidewalk in the opposite direction they had originally come from.

"Naruto! Where are you taking me?" Gaara allowed himself to be pulled along.

"I want you to meet someone." The half breed threw his head back to answer as their clothes became drenched.

They finally stopped before a familiar wrought iron gate. "Well you've met before but I think you're overdue to meet again and I don't know if I'll get another chance to bring you anytime soon."

The blonde placed his hand on the large padlock and put into practice some of the abilities of his demon half that Gaara had showed him. The lock clicked open and they entered following the path until Naruto stopped at a tombstone.

"Hey mom! I was in the neighborhood so I thought I'd swing by and I brought a friend. He said you guys had met before but I thought you'd like to see him again. He's helped me out a lot and he's kinda important to me so yeah. Also I finally talked to dad... well sort of. We're gonna really talk tomorrow, I know you probably would've wanted me to do it sooner, but I needed some time. Better late than never though, right? I'm doing better though. Hopefully I can come see you again once all of this is over… Ahh.. I should probably let Gaara say hi." Naruto paused his rambling and looked up at the demon expectantly.

Gaara sensed the slight trace of anxiety from the half breed. He was sure it took a lot for Naruto to bring someone else here and let them listen in on him talking to his deceased mother.

"Hello Kushina, It's been a while." The redhead placed a hand on her tombstone and willed his demon sight to take over so he could see her spirit. She appeared sitting on the ledge of the marble stone smiling over at Wrath as he spoke.

"Naruto is doing well. He's learning a lot faster than expected, despite his inability to wake up on time." He heard the blond scoff in response. "I promise that I'll try my best to take care of him, although sometimes I feel like he's the one taking care of me. He's been keeping me from becoming too serious. It's a fair tradeoff to be honest."

Gaara looked over to the blonde standing next to him. "You have a wonderful son, Kushina. You should be overjoyed at how strong and amazing he's become. I believe in him. He's going to be just fine."

"Thanks for not thinking I'm weirdo cause I hang out in graveyards at night and talk to my dead mother." The rain had returned to a light drizzle as they walked back out of the cemetery and Gaara found a secluded spot to create a portal back to hell.

"I'm a demon Naruto. Do you really think this is the strangest thing I've done? Besides you've been living with me for almost seven months, there's hardly anything you can do by now that would put me off."

They entered back into Gaara's apartment and the demon began pulling off his wet jacket. "Try not to drip too much on the flo-.."

He was stopped as he felt arms snake around his torso and Naruto's forehead lightly rest at the base of Gaara's neck.

"Thank you, for not giving up on me. I feel like I owe you a lot. I couldn't do this without you."

The demon stilled for a moment before he felt Naruto retreat and apologize. "Sorry. I invaded your personal space. I know how much you hate people invading your space." The blonde mumbled.

"It's alright. You're the exception." Gaara finally spoke and turned back to face Naruto who was staring at his shoes, hands stuffed into his pockets in what seemed like an effort to control them more than anything.

"Hey, Naruto look at me." Blue eyes slowly found their way up as Gaara continued. "I am here for you, whatever you need. I'm not going anywhere, I promise, but please understand the with or without me, you are capable of so much. You are deserving of so much. Don't fool yourself into believing that you can't do things or shouldn't experience things for any reason because that's a lie. I will never give up on you, so don't ever give up on yourself."

"Ok" Naruto gave a soft smile as he whispered his response.

It was quick and unexpected and over almost as fast as it had begun. Naruto let his hand find Gaara's and pulled him closer. A gentle brush of lips, unsure but curious, a small invitation extended to the demon. Wrath looked at the half breed in surprise and watched him pull back uncertain if he had overstepped some invisible boundary, face flushed with red across beautiful tan skin. Gaara felt his resolve crumble as the wide blue eyes glanced nervously at him. Eyes that he knew he could never deny. This would probably create a whole new world of issues that could have been avoided if he had better control, but at the moment he didn't give a fuck. He guided Naruto's mouth back to his, connecting them again.

Fuck everything else. Right now, right here, was all that mattered. Both of them were broken in one way or another, perhaps this time he could be enough. Maybe this time Gaara would be able to give someone everything they needed. Maybe they could fit their jagged, fragmented edges together and make each other whole. The gentle kiss turned fervent as they crushed their mouths together, like this kiss would be able to piece each other back together. Like their mouths held the answer to all of life's problems. Hands knotted in garnet hair and pale fingers tracing along a defined jawline, they had become a tangled mess of teeth and tongue. Gaara felt everything else fade away in a blur of blond hair and blue eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

Just breathe. Naruto knocked on the door of his father's house. This was it, he was facing his demons, literally. No turning back now.

"Hi. Thanks for coming. Please come in."

"Yeah. Thanks."

"I'm almost done with dinner. Would you like something to drink?" The demon offered as he guided his son to the kitchen.

"Water?"

Minato nodded and served his son a glass of water before returning to the stove. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the pink apron his father wore but made no comment. If he didn't know any better, Naruto would never have even expected Minato to be capable of anything other than a polite gentleman, least of all the original cardinal sin of Wrath. The demon hummed pleasantly as he continued cooking and Naruto took a seat at the table in the kitchen. He fiddled with the zipper on his jacket, unsure of how to start.

"How's Gaara?"

Naruto blinked up at his father as he processed that question. "G-good! Um, he's good."

"He's not giving you a hard time is he? He can get a little intense when it comes to work sometimes." Minato raised and eyebrow in concern as he asked.

"No, no. He's fine. It's fine." FUCK. Naruto's mind went back to last night, with his back pressed up against a wall, his legs wrapped around the demons waist and Gaara's lips trailing down his neck. "Just fine…"

Minato nodded and began serving their food. They sat at the table eating in silence for a while until Naruto spoke up.

"This is good. I kinda feel lame that you and Gaara are practically chefs while I still struggle with boiling water." He let out a nervous laugh.

"It's just practice. Gaara was bad at it at first, it took many years of teaching him before he finally stopped setting the kitchen on fire. I could teach you, if you'd like." There was a hint of something to that offer. Hope, nerves, or a combination of the two. Naruto couldn't tell but his father was trying, and his mother would smack him over the head if he continued to let this opportunity to mend their relationship be for nothing.

"Yeah, that'd be good. It would be nice to be able to cook for Gaara for a change." The halfbreed gave a fond smile.

Minato laughed and nodded.

"So you and Gaara go way back?"

"I guess you could say that. I just helped him get back on his feet. He had a very….troubled past." Minato frowned slightly.

"Oh."

They both fell into silence again after that. Neither one able to figure out how to gently approach the topic.

"So, you were going to school back in the mortal realm?" Minato tried again in hopes of a better conversation.

"Yeah. I was going for history. I kinda wanted to work for a museum after I got my degree."

"I see. Why history?"

Naruto blushed a bit and cleared his throat. "Ah, well... mom said you loved history and you'd always tell her stories of past civilizations and wars and things like that. She'd tell me the stories sometimes as a kid. I thought they were cool. Now I'm guessing it was less because you studied history and more because you actually lived it."

Minato laughed. "I have been around for just about every human civilization and witnessed all of their rises and fallings. But each one was amazing to see, how generations of humans rose above their struggles and how others were ruled by an overwhelming and oppressive societies. Kushina loved to hear about them all, she never minded my mindless ramblings about it."

"How did you and mom meet?"

"I'm surprised your mother never told you the story." The demon quirked a brow at his son.

"She never really said too much about you, other than you loved us and you were away for work or whatever"

Minato thought for a moment before divulging into the story. "Well, your mother was an extremely strong psychic, a clairvoyant unlike any I had ever met. She began developing her sight as a child but it got stronger in her teenage years. The counselors and therapy never worked and by the time she was twenty her parents were strongly considering placing her in a mental institution. She ran away to try and find some answers for her abilities. She visited just about every occult store, herbal healer, magic shop and palm reading psychic she came across. None of them could give her answers as to why she knew things, or saw things others couldn't. Shizune caught word of a woman whose visions were so dead accurate even the oldest psychics seemed to be spooked. And that's how your mother finally found someone to help teach her about her abilities and how Shizune learned she was having visions pertaining to a case we were working on apparently. And the rest was love at first sight I guess you could say. Your mother was amazing."

Naruto pushed some rice around his plate with a fork, his appetite suddenly gone. He couldn't drag it on any longer. "Why did you leave?"

The demon gently set down his silverware as he looked at his son before responding. "I didn't intentionally."

"Bullshit."

"Naruto, I was never gone for long. I always made a point to come back to you and your mother." A sad look took over the demon's face. This was an argument he knew he'd never win. Excuses he shouldn't be making.

"Yeah and then you'd wipe my memories of you and leave again. Was it because of me? You just didn't want to deal with a kid?" Naruto felt his face begin to heat as his anger rose.

"No, you are my son. How can you think that?"

"You kept erasing all traces of you from my mind. How the hell am I supposed to not think you just didn't want anything to do with me?" The half breed clenched his fists at his sides trying to calm himself.

"Your mother was the one who insisted on me doing it." Minato blurted before he could think of a better way to say it.

"W-what?"

The demon sighed "It was to protect you. She didn't want you to know you were part demon."

"Why would she try to hide that from me?" Naruto felt his heart descending into his stomach. All the times he'd ask her about his father, she only ever responded with happy reassurances of how wonderful he was. How could she have been trying to hide Minato from him?

"Kushina had a vision when you were a child. That you would be in danger should you ever come to the demonic realm, or learn to much about your demonic heritage." Minato spoke quietly, as if that would somehow keep his son from harm.

There was a small silence again as Naruto processed the new information. His mind was telling him it made sense but his heart was telling him to just jump ship before he got rejected again. He steeled himself and ignored that feeling that he would regret trying to connect, regret trying to mend something so shattered.

"Just how accurate were mom's visions again?" Naruto spoke finally.

"Very."

"But I've been in hell now for like 8 months and aside from the death match I've gotten myself into, I'm doing alright." He didn't want to think about how perhaps his mothers vision consisted of him dying in the trials.

The demon looked anxious, "We've been keeping our guard up. You have to be careful in the tournament Naruto. Just because nothing has happened doesn't mean it won't happen."

"Is that why mom died? Were people after her because of me?"

"I-I don't know. They were just some hired mercenaries, dealt in cash and their client was anonymous." Minato looked at the ceiling and played with his glass, obviously trying to keep himself together.

"Why didn't you come find me?" Naruto's voice cracked, he mentally berated himself.

"I tried. I nearly tore New York apart looking through every foster home. But I wasn't sure it was safe. I didn't know if the people who paid to have Kushina killed were looking for you too, or if they knew you were my son. Nobody in hell knew I had a son, and given the danger you were in I figured it was best not to tell anyone. So Gaara and I were the only ones looking for you. I'm sorry, I failed you as a father. I have no excuse for letting you down and putting you and your mother in danger. I should have been there. I should have been protecting you both." The glass in the demon's hand shattered as streaks of dark crimson ran down his face.

Naruto took a shaky breath as he watched the tears of blood drip from his father's face and pool onto the table top. They sat as the heavy silence took over once more, enveloping them and threatening to smother them both. He didn't want to forgive him, he couldn't. Despite his newfound understanding of the situation, his self preservation would not allow him to easily brush of everything. But he knew the blame was not just on his father anymore, it's was also on his mother though she was trying to protect him. More than anything it was on himself for not being strong enough to protect her much less himself. Enter the cycle of self loathing again. It was a song Naruto knew all too well. He pinched the bridge of his nose to try and keep from falling apart.

"Dad, I can't forgive you. But I understand why everything happened the way it did. I know you aren't the only one to blame for all of it going to shit. It's unfair of me to continue to just try and blame you for it." The half breed paused to clear his throat in hopes his voice wouldn't break before he continued. "To be honest I don't know if I can ever forgive you, but I want to try. I know you aren't perfect, fuck neither am I. But I'm tired of being mad at you and even though I hate admitting it I don't want to be bitter about not having a father for most of my life. I'd like to try and have some sort of a relationship with you that's not resentful and full of hate."

Minato grabbed his napkin to clean his face. "I don't expect you to forgive me. I still can't forgive myself. I can't change the past no matter how much I wish I could. I can only keep going and carry this guilt for the rest of my eternity. But I would like to try and be a father to you now if you'd let me. I know it won't fix things, or make things right again, but you never deserved the life you had. I never deserved your mother or you. You were both far to good for a devil like me. And I don't deserve to be given the chance at a relationship with you, but I will try my best to be all that I can be for you because you of all people are worth more than I could ever give you."

Naruto jolted awake, the same dream he had the first night he came to hell had been haunting him recently. He was never able to change the outcome or finish it through. Sometimes small things change but he always woke the same; sweaty, shaky, and unable to sleep anymore. He got up and splashed water on his face to calm his racing heart. Recently he got less and less sleep every night and the impending stress of the first task was weighing him down, he was easily frustrated in training because of it. He wandered down the hall, towards the office with the intent to try and at least be productive with his time by studying. He noticed a light illuminated at the opposite end of the hall where Gaara's room was, he followed it. Sure enough the Sin was seated cross legged on his queen sized bed reviewing a file with his laptop opened beside him and an array of books scattered around.

"Do you ever sleep?" Naruto leaned against the wall watching the demon work.

"What are you doing awake?" Gaara glanced at the time on his computer, "It's 2 am."

"I figured if you're up and working hard then I should be too." he joked as a scowl formed on his mentor's face

"You should go back to bed." Wrath advised as he continued to read not looking up.

"I'm having trouble sleeping." He confessed rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Welcome to the club." The redhead made some space and motioned for the half mortal to join him.

"What are you reading?" Naruto sat next to his mentor and and looked over his shoulder.

"Files on the nominees that will be participating in the trials." Gaara reached over, picked up a book on various weaponry and handed it to the figure now seated behind him.

"Really...?" He unwillingly took the book and flipped through the pages.

"Educate yourself." The Sin could hear the young man groan as he threw himself back into the soft pillows in defiance at the order.

"You know taking a small break from talking about all this stuff would probably be beneficial"

Gaara grunted, picking up his laptop and adding to his notes.

"Seriously, all this stress is fucking with my sleep cycle and it looks like it's not doing you any favors either. Then again you're always this intense soooo…"

A hand came down swatting at Naruto's stomach.

"I am not always intense." The demon argued.

Blue eyes lit up as he cackled at the remark. He picked up a pillow to defend himself.

"No but all you ever talk about recently is trials and training. I understand how important it is but you also said small breaks are important too. Plus it'll help build more trust between us." He blocked another haphazard blow with the pillow.

"Fine." Gaara shut his laptop and rubbed his eyes, obviously tired of staring at letters on the screen and on paper. He began gathering his books and setting them to the side.

"Yes!" Naruto reviled in the victory of being granted a break.

"Don't get too excited, just for tonight since we both can't sleep." The sin reminded. "What would you like to do?"

"Let's talk about you. I've been living with you for over ten months and other than random stuff I know almost nothing about you or your past." He sat up and tossed the pillow at his mentor.

"If anything that just proves how unobservant you are?" He caught it with one hand and stared pointedly.

"Ok, I know stuff about you. Aside from being a complete hottie, you have a cati obsession and you cook like a god."

"It's not an obsession." He flung the pillow, hitting the half breed square in the face.

"If you say so…but seriously. I mean, how long have you been a sin, what were you like when you were like me, do you do anything else other than work?" He hugged the pillow and watched the demon think for a moment then disappear out of the room.

"'Tch. Typical." The blonde laid back again and sighed. This would be a long few more months to go, Naruto groaned dramatically.

A clinking sound made him realize Wrath had returned.

"I can't be sober if we are gonna do this" He set the bottle of whisky and two shot glasses down momentarily on the bedside table as he opened the drawer, rummaged around and pulled out a half empty pack of cigarettes. Gaara unlatched the window and slid it up and motioned for the half breed to follow him out onto the fire escape.

"You smoke?" The blonde crickled his nose in obvious dislike.

"Only when I'm not sober. Trust me I've cut back." the sin opened the bottle and poured them both a shot of the dark liquor. They downed it enjoying the familiar burn on their throats.

"Okay, so how long have you been Wrath?" Naruto set his glass down as Gaara poured himself another and swallowed it.

"Three centuries." the demon rested his back on the railing, facing towards his bedroom window.

"And you were a half breed before?" Naruto filled both glasses and watched his mentor quickly drain it.

"I was a halfbreed before." He pulled out a cigarette from its carton and lit it with a snap of his fingers. "My mother was a demon, my father was a mortal." He spoke after taking a long drag and exhaling, smoke spilling from his mouth.

"So how did you get involved with the whole Wrath thing?" the blonde still held his second shot in his hand. He watched Gaara glance at the bottle of whisky before bringing the cig back to his mouth.

"My father wasn't too excited about the idea of dealing with a child. So my mom left him and took me with her. She…. passed away." He regarded his words before speaking again. "She was murdered by some demon hunters my father had hired. He really despised me. Originally I was meant to be killed too but apparently my mother took her revenge on them before dying from her fatal injury." He shifted himself, finding a more comfortable position before he continued. "Life with him was fucking hell. Minato found me the day I was left for dead. He's the only reason I'm not well past the point of decay six feet under somewhere." He took another long drag of his cigarette before glancing back to the half mortal.

"Your dad sounds like shit."

Gaara nodded. "He was."

"So my dad brought you to hell?"

"Yeah, he sort of took me in and trained me, after a few centuries I decided I wanted to take over the Wrath title. He never had another potential nominee step up

to try for the title because he hates setting them up for failure. But since I had several centuries of training under him, he finally agreed."

"Is your father the one who gave you that scar?" Naruto asked, knowing he was prying a bit more than he should. He watched Gaara absently touch the side of his forehead, tracing the faded mark. It was only visible if you got close up, which the demon in questions didn't often allow.

"Yeah. He gave me a great majority of my scars. I was much easier to injure before I got a handle on my abilities." The buzz finally began setting in. Wrath welcomed the slight numbing feeling and began to let himself disengage.

"I'm sorry." he offered

"It's not your fault." the sin snorted in response before finishing his cigarette and putting it out. "In all honesty, Minato may have made some poor decisions, but he has always loved you."

Naruto looked away as the redhead mentioned his father.

A few minutes of silence passed as they each weighed their heavy mental baggage from the past.

"So.. What else do you like to do other than work and be an intense pain in my ass?" Naruto changed the topic.

"Well you know I like riding motorcycles, however someone doesn't appreciate my driving…" He glared over at the younger man who was barely taking a drink of his second shot.

"You drive like a lunatic. I almost fly off and die every single time." the argument came forward

"You're always so dramatic" Wrath laughed

"What else?"

"Hmm, you know I also like to read. I like watching documentaries, practicing martial arts and listening to classic rock. I like watching you train…" Wrath glanced sideways at the blonde assessing how he took that last statement.

"Watching me train?"

"Hmm, yeah. Sometimes it's amusing, but sometimes I see your improvement and determination. It's encouraging I guess." the demon's face was flushed from his slight intoxication and he pulled out another cigarette.

"I've never seen your horns before." he watched the older figure with interest.

"Do you like them? I feel like they get in the way so they usually only appear when I'm drinking or really pissed off." Gaara laughed as Naruto scooted closer to get a better look at the objects that had appeared on his head. He now sat next to his mentor, arms touching.

"They look good on you." he stared a little longer than normal taking in the dark curving shapes that protruded from his head.

Gaara made a mental note to let them stay visible for a while since Naruto seemed so fascinated with them. "My turn to ask you a question." The demon looked over to the half breed.

"Sure" Naruto was definitely beginning to feel a buzz now, his face flushing. He had always been such a lightweight. Kiba used to tease him mercilessly about always being the first one to pass out, since then he rarely touched alcohol and if he did the always made sure to stop once the buzz set in.

"Why do you like me?" The question came out before his better judgment could keep him in check. He had told himself to tread carefully when it came to his feelings for the younger man. The timing for them to figure out exactly what they had between them was absolutely terrible given the trials to be taking place, but he couldn't let the obvious flirting passes and make out sessions after trainings slide by. It wasn't the way the sin worked, he hated being used and had minimal interest in fleeting infatuations that did not last. If that was his intent in he would find someone else who didn't capture his fascination like the blonde did, someone else who had a mutual understanding that there was nothing more to look for. He had to have some idea that Naruto didn't just find him convenient.

"I don't know, Just something about you has me attracted physically, mentally and probably on a spiritual level too." Naruto chuckled his response and let his head fall to rest on the demon's shoulder.

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?" he looked up at his mentor not sure he understood the question.

Wrath repeated himself, wanting an answer. "Why are you attracted to me on more than a physical level?" Most people noted Gaara as physically attractive, but that wasn't what mattered to him. He was not interested in people who saw only surface level and was not willing to deal with all that might lie underneath.

"Well it's a lot of things I guess…" the half breed gave an awkward laugh.

"So enlightening…" sarcasm dripped from the statement

"Ugh, you're gonna make me say it outloud?" Naruto groaned, not expecting the seriousness in his request.

The sin looked over at the blonde, seeing the surprise in his eyes."I'm just curious what you see in me."

"Well, you like me too don't you? What do you see in me? Why am I the one being grilled on this?" he was scrambling to get the attention off of the question directed at him. He had never really given it a lot of thought, too afraid he'd end up not being able to focus through his training if he dwelled on it. The demon glared seeing his intention in the turnaround of the question.

"In short, I admire that you have a strong determination and unshakable will when you put your mind to something. Despite some of the idiotic things that come out of your mouth, you are gregarious and thoughtful of others. You have a desire to better yourself and do right by others despite having been through a mass amount of psychological and physical issues that would have made most people bitter. It says a lot about you as a person. It shows me that you have a good heart." Unlike his mentee Gaara was careful to evaluate the reasons he was attracted to someone, making sure they were valid and honest and it wasn't a simple lustful pass.

Naruto blinked, uncertain he was ready to hear how his mentor felt about him. "Well shit, I didn't know you had a list prepared." It would now make things different for them having their feelings verbally acknowledged.

"Will you answer the rest of my question?" Green eyes curious as he asked again.

"Okay, let's see… Hmm well you were kind of a mysterious guy before I got to know you, it was really intriguing. I mean even up until tonight I didn't know much about you. I guess there were small things here and there that caught my attention like how patient you are with me when I can't get a technique down. You're actually patient with a lot of things in general I've noticed, and you're always so calm. Except for when you drive, you become a fucking mad man." the half breed let out a snicker as he teased.

The demon grunted at the jest.

"You're honest with me, which is something I really value. You treat those around you extremely well, you have a genuine desire for those around you to succeed and you care for their well being. I see the way your employees look at you, with so much respect and gratitude." he mused.

Garra scoffed but gave a small nod."I may be a demon but I'm not heartless."

Naruto adjusted himself to lay down and rested his head in Wraths lap. He may as well get comfortable since he was verbally confessing his admiration and desire for his mentor.

"You know when I first saw you aside from your dripping good looks, you seemed so dangerous and harsh. I thought your were some hardcore emotionless demon capable of crushing my head with one hand. I mean, yeah I was right you are capable of killing without batting an eye but you're actually really gentle, kind and supportive for the most part. Also you're surprisingly graceful. It's interesting." He looked up wondering if the demon minded his change of position, if so he gave no sign of dissatisfaction.

"You think I'm graceful and gentle? That's not how most people would describe me." the words came laced with a slight bewilderment

"Well not in everything. Not when you make me run five miles before breakfast or when you're in public or working with the other sins. But in little things, like when you practice your fighting forms alone, it's not just pure strength. There's a fluid grace to it. Or when you cook, you make it so comfortable to just watch you in silence. Sometimes when you do that little smile thing after we finish sparring or I've said something that takes you by surprise, there's a softness in your eyes and when you help me up after you've knocked me on my ass, your hand lingers just a bit as you make sure I'm ok. I like seeing that side of you. It shows me you have so much more beneath the whole reserved and emotionless bad boy mask you show on the surface." Naruto finished, finally letting go of that apprehension that kept him from admitting how much he really liked Gaara.

Wrath blushed, partially amazed that the half breed picked up on all those little things. "I believe you're this first person to ever perceive me in that way."

"It's just a side of you that a lot of people don't get to see. You're a private person, so you're careful about your actions and words. Maybe it's 'cause I've lived with you for a while now but I'm glad that you aren't as guarded around me anymore." He grinned, truly feeling the simple joy in that last part of his statement.

"Hmm, I guess you've grown on me." the demon gave playful banter.

Naruto was dying for a topic change, he didn't think he'd be able to keep himself from trying to instigate anything too sexual with his mentor if they continued to talk about how they felt. "I have a tendency to do that. So what's the story behind your tattoos and piercings?"

Gaara glanced at his arms, covered in dark ink with splashes of color. They usually spared shirtless so they were both aware of each others bodys. Wrath often hid his full sleeve tattoos for work and during formal meetings however the demon never cared to hide his piercings. While a few like this tongue ring and nipple piercings were easily hidden, Gaara found it was more of a hassle to constantly be removing the vertical labret in his lip and the various bars in his ears for work every day. Even in a fight, regardless of the easy target it made, nobody was good enough to get that close and grab at that bars that were left exposed in his flesh.

"I just like the way they look." He paused in thought for a moment, considering his next words. "The tattoos are a little more thought out i suppose. Apparently my mother was a japanese demon so I got the irezumi style for my bloodline. The Oni on the left sleeve is a sort of reminder to keep my inner demons in check. " He paused to pull up the sleeve and held his arm above Naruto to allow him a better view of the various demons on his skin before he continued.

"The one on the right arm is something your father suggested actually, since I've always suffered from insomnia and night terrors." He rolled up his opposite sleeve to show the mythological chimera like creature on his muscular bicep. It stretched upwards toward his shoulder, surrounded by clouds and traditional japanese chrysanthemums. "Baku, the dream eater. He's supposed to be the protector from nightmares and restlessness."

"Has it helped you sleep any?" The blonde asked as he observed the tattoo he had seen multiple times, now understanding its significance.

The sin laughed, fully amused at the idea, "Not one bit."

"Those are really nice though, they are meaningful. They reflect a part of you." Naruto considered putting more thought into his next tattoo, if he lived long enough for that to happen.

"What about yours?" a long finger poked the blonde's stomach, making contact with the toned abs beneath the thin tank top.

He hadn't told anyone the real reason he had gotten the design. "It's kinda stupid."

"Tell me."

The half breed pulled back the edge of the fabric to show the large black tribal style tattoo that encircled his belly button.

"My mom used to call me her little ray of sunshine. So yeah, it's a sun." he shrugged not having more to say about it.

Wrath recognized the sentiment hidden behind the deep blue eyes at the mention of his mother "That's not stupid. It's something special to you." He watched the swirling symbol disappear as the material was pulled back down. The sins fingers absently found the golden locks that rested in his lap.

"Yeah, it is." the half breed relaxed at the feel of his mentor running a hand through his hair.

"What do you remember about your mother?" Gaara asked with slight caution, unsure of how sensitive this subject was.

"She was great, the best mom anyone could ask for. I mean she was pretty strict sometimes, and she would chew me out for not cleaning up. She would embarrass me all the time in public and every time I came home she had a new cat she would show me that she had adopted and was feeding in the backyard. She always babbled nonstop about the paranormal things she had experienced that day." His face lit up with a smile as he spoke of her.

Gaara continued to listen in silence, allowing Naruto to speak freely.

"She would make friends with everyone. She was always there for me, and worked real hard to give me everything I needed. She had a fierce determination, I always admired that about her. Her cooking was amazing, and she was always so warm and happy…." Emotion caught in his voice as he trailed off and broke eye contact in effort to compose himself.

"She was a wonderful mother." The demon offered, understanding the delicate nature of this conversation.

"She was." Naruto spoke softly as he stared up at the sky, ignoring the small trickle of tears that escaped despite his attempt to hold them back. He had never shared this much about his past to anyone, it was long overdue. He felt an unwinding in his chest as the words came.

The demons free hand gently set itself on Naruto's stomach, in a comforting gesture. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." He reassured there was no pressure for the conversation to continue.

"I was ten years old. She died while I was at school. Someone broke in and killed her for whatever reason. They never really found out why. It wasn't fun coming home that day after she didn't show up to walk with me like she always did. Neither was calling for help, and going into foster care, or anything else that came after that." his eyes shut as he grasped for support, intertwining fingers with his mentors hand pulling it up to rest on his chest. He watched the memories of that day replay in his mind.

A calm quiet, as the demon let the figure in his lap work through whatever memories he held in the dark parts of his heart. Blue eyes opened after a few minutes, ready to continue with the conversation.

"I was so angry for a long time. At everyone. At my non existent dad, at whatever twisted divine power let this happen. But I think mostly I was mad at myself because I couldn't figure out how to stop hurting. But I guess you understand what it feels like being left alone." He found Gaara carefully watching him as he disclosed his deepest suffering.

A sad expression found its way onto Wraths face. "The pain dulls and heals over time but the scar of what happened doesn't ever disappear completely. It's always there, in the back of your heart. A steady reminder of shitty times and an unjust past.".

"Yeah." He had figured there was no way to undo the damage that had been done to his life.

Gaara looked down, practically reading the half breeds mind. "Healing is a bitch, but it's not all bad. Just because it can't be undone doesn't mean it can't get better. You are worth so much, and you deserve the chance to let yourself mend."

"I don't even know where to begin. Everytime I try to figure out how I'm supposed to heal something shitty happens and rips everything apart again. I mean I guess I'm trying with my old man, it's just hard. I don't even know if I'm doing it right." He thought back to the instability in his life, ignored by various foster parents unless they were abusing him in some way. He remembered the panic and pain of Sasuke leaving without word and the overwhelming sense of abandonment that he had been struggling to overcome, take over and swallow him whole once again.

"I had a lot of things to heal from when I was first brought here by your father and I still struggle with them from time to time. I was advised to fill my life with things that make me happy. You can start small, if you feel overwhelmed like inanimate objects, or activities. Eventually you let bigger things in regardless of their stability. For my personal healing, understanding that nobody perfect and asking anyone, including myself, to never do me wrong is an irresponsible request to make. We are bound to fuck up at some point, but you can ask for honesty about it. Accepting that and knowing when to release as things come and go is a part of everything." the demon offered.

"Is that why you have over 40 different potted cacti?" Naruto flinched at the slight flick on his head.

"Yes, actually. I love warm, desert like climates. I can't live there due to my current position but they are a nice reminder."

The younger figure subconsciously let his thumb caress the back of the sins hand that still rested on his chest. "I see...I don't know if I can do it."

"It won't happen overnight, this takes time. It's not easy, and it's horrendously messy. You find yourself fighting the urge to rip people in half often, and isolate yourself completely. Sometimes you pick up undesirable habits along the way…" He released the blonde hair and grabbed the carton of cigarettes, chucking it across the fire escape.

"...but...?" Eager to hear the conclusion to his statement.

"But you become stronger afterwards, you learn to manage your inner darkness, and the pain does finally subside once you learn to coexist with it." Gaara finished.

"Hmm"

"You don't have to do it completely alone either. I am here to support you the best that I can." Wrath gave a rare smile and watched uncertainty in Naruto's expression.

The half breed sat up releasing his mentors hand momentarily before shifting himself from his reclined position to now straddle the demon. He found green eyes, curious but soft. That gentleness that was often hidden to others, on display for the blonde to revel in. He sat back in Gaara's lap and felt the demon's hands find his hips, thumbs tracing small circles over the thin fabric of his shirt. The half breed bit the bottom of his lip, unsure if his next statement would break him. He had to say it, make it known. It had been so long since he had been so intimate with anyone both physically and emotionally. Even though they had made amends recently to be friends after that mess with Sasuke he knew his heart couldn't take opening itself to another person only to have them abandon him like they always did.

"I-" Naruto shifted his gaze down, not wanting to face the demon as he spoke.

"I don't want to disappoint you. Really, I'm just a shitty guy, and you'll get tired of me after a while. You shouldn't have to support me through my mess. I'm sorry, I didn't meant to dump all of my personal baggage on you. I just-" He was cut off as a pair of soft lips found his, familiar and gentle. He melted into the kiss letting his arms wrap around Wrath's neck.

They finally broke away from each other after a few minutes. The blonde was dizzy for a moment as he heard the redhead speak.

"You are amazing, and strong and worth every bit of devotion I have to give. I am not going to give up and leave you." Gaara whispered soft words to the man in his embrace.

A small nod from the half breed, indicated he understood but he averted his gaze. Strong pale fingers lifted the man's chin so they were face to face once again. Wrath wiped at the few tears that trailed down tanned cheeks and pressed small kisses to replace them. His lips trailed up, kissing his nose, both eyes and forehead. Naruto finally gave a small smile as Gaara continued to pepper his face with small, sweet kisses. Their lips met again, this time with a little more hunger than before. The demon tasted like alcohol and cigarettes and something else Naruto couldn't place but he didn't mind as he experimentally tugged at the metal bar, sucking on Gaara's bottom lip. The redhead responded by sliding his hands under his shirt, trailing over the muscles on his back. Naruto moaned at the touch deepening the kiss, fingers entwined in garnet locks of hair when a buzzing from the Sins cell phone brought them back to reality before they could continue any further. The blonde sat back, blushing at the recent intimate moment.

"Sorry." Gaara frowned, displeased at the separation of their bodies. Emails from work and text messages from his assistant appeared on the screen. The demon didn't bother to check them, knowing if he did there was no chance of getting any sleep.

The sin looked at the time, 5AM.

Naruto had his monthly check-in with the reapers at 1PM. He hoped Naruto wouldn't be an exhausted mess. Gaara was used to catching only three hours of sleep a night, but there was nothing he could do to wake Naruto short of physically dragging the blond out of bed in the mornings when he didn't sleep enough.

"Come on, we should probably shower." Wrath stood, crawled through the window and had turned to catch his nominee before he face planted onto the floor.

"Wait, like shower together? It this an invitation?" the blonde was confused as he looked around the room, trying not to fall over as his foot got caught climbing back inside.

"If you'd like." Gaara shrugged, his red flag signals weren't working at the moment. He was still thinking about the feel of Naruto in his lap, on his lips, grabbing his hair.

The sin led the way into his master bathroom and started the water, waiting for it to get warm. He began brushing his teeth as he watched the blonde carelessly rummaged through the cabinets.

"What are you looking for?" The demon mumbled, toothbrush obscuring his words.

"Mouthwash, I taste like that lighter fluid we were just drinking." He held up the bottle in victory and rinsed.

Wrath yanked off his clothes once he was finished, tossing them into the hamper. He noticed the half breed was having a little trouble.

"Need help?" He watched the younger man fight to keep his balance, a grunt came in response.

He helped a stumbling Naruto out of his clothes before he tripped and broke something, amused at the clumsiness nonetheless. The blonde looked up at the sin, taking in the sight of his naked body. He noted how powerful the demon was and how ominous he looked with his horns and tail still showing. A gasp escaped the half mortals lips as he reached out and touched the taught skin, feeling a dark force resonate beneath his finger. Part of him felt he should kneel in awe at the mysterious power that radiated from the being, the other part of him wanted Gaara to shove him up against a wall and have at it.

"Come." The demon took him by the hand and entered the now steamy shower. They both stood for a moment enjoying the hot water as it rolled down their bodies. Naruto leaned back against the tile wall and closed his eyes as he hummed. Wrath took the opportunity to observe the man who had begun to steal his heart as he grabbed a bar of soap and worked up a lather, scrubbing his own body thoroughly. He noted the muscles in his torso, and the strong thighs as his eyes trailed downwards. The half mortal had a naturally lean build but with the past five months of intense training thanks to Wrath, a strong muscular form began to show on the half mortal's body.

"Mmmmm" Gaara smirked as he elicited a moan from the man with his touch, working the soap onto the blonde's chest. He moved the washcloth down Naruto's torso slowly, lingering a moment as he stopped just before the groin. The man had already been half hard sitting in his lap making out on the fire escape, it wouldn't take much to take the half breed all the way.

"You tease" he had opened one eye to see the demon give him a smug look.

"I'm saving the best for last." Wrath smirked then squatted to wash the lower half of the man working his way up. He traced the sensitive skin on the inner thigh with his thumb as the the soap lingered. He heard a sharp inhale at the contact taking it as a sign to continue. The demon took the blonde's length in his hands and gently moved the washcloth over it, watching the arousal grow.

"Fuck" Naruto whispered, encouraging Gaara.

He placed the soapy cloth off to the side and stood allowing the water to rinse them off. Blue eyes looked up at him displeased that the touch had stopped. The demon blinked in amusement before placing a hand on either side of the blonde's head, trapping him with a predatory stare. Naruto's knees went weak under the green eyes, his breath quickened as he bit his lower lip to keep it from trembling with desire. Gaara released a low growl as he leaned in and pressed their mouths together, tasting each other in a mess of teeth and tongue. Hands found their way to rest on the sins waist, slowly moving to caress the tight muscles in his back. Wrath trickled kisses down the man's jaw to his neck where he began to test the area with small nibbles.

"Can I bite you?" The sin asked before continuing.

"Yes" Naruto let out a breathy response.

"Tell me to stop if you don't like it." Gaara whispered against the skin between licks. Naruto moaned in reply as the ball of the metal barbel on the demon's tongue trailed down before he bit the flesh purposefully this time. The sin felt hands fist into his hair as he moved a little lower and bit again.

"Harder" the blonde gasped as he felt the demon's teeth take to his neck. Wrath obliged, adding more pressure to the bite. The half mortal moved his head giving him access to the opposite side of his neck. The redhead flashed a wicked smile before diving in and leaving his marks across the tan skin and let his hands trail down to find Naruto's shaft already hard as he began pumping it slowly. He ran his thumb across the slit as it dripped with clear precum earning a whimper from the man.

"Gaara...please.. pl-please" the demon felt his face flush as his name was whispered and satisfaction rose in him at the sound of his lover begging. He continued to slide along the mans cock, while his free hand pinned him firmly to the wall at his waist. Their mouths collided again, picking up the pace as Naruto's breathing soon became shallow, signaling he was close to finishing. Wrath moved back to the soft skin of the neck as he placed one final bite, claiming the half mortal with its force.

"Fuck...Gaara!" His head flew back with eyes shut, fingers twisted and pulled at the red hair as he came. The demon released the skin beneath his mouth once he felt the body relax against the wall. The water had begun to run cold as he washed away the mess Naruto had made. He shut off the shower and pulled a towel from the hook that hung next to the curtain, ignoring his own arousal. He allowed his horns and tail to disappeared already and after drying himself he turned to the blonde who was still leaning against the shower wall, recovering from his orgasm.

"Naruto, are you alright? Nod if you're ok." The sin took the man's face in his hands and slowly inspected his neck, no blood was drawn a good sign, he was still able to keep perfect control. A slight nod indicated he was fine, but obviously tired. Wrath wrapped the towel around the blonde's torso and pulled his lover's arms over his shoulders, feeling his weight as his body now leaning on him.

"Let's get you to bed. Can you walk?" Remembering that he wasn't fully demon yet and he may be experiencing some side effects.

"My legs feel like jello." the half breed mumbled as his head rested in the crook of the demon's neck.

"I'm so sorry, I should have warned you since you're part mortal. You experience a type of sensory overload, it's a side effect of engaging in any sex with a demon. You'll be better after some sleep." Gaara apologized.

"-s'okay.." blue eyes closed in relaxation as he was hoisted up, bringing his legs to wrap around Wrath's waist. The sin easily carried him to the room and sat on the edge of the bed, Naruto still clinging to him.

"How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" The redhead rubbed Naruto's back in a soothing motion.

"Mmmm..I'm ok." his voice was soft and full of sleep.

"I'm going to dry you off and get you some clothes." Gaara removed the towel from around his torso and gently dried the blonde hair. He moved to drying the rest of Naruto's body before tossing it off to the floor. He helped the man off his lap and onto the bed, leaving him laying on his side. The demon pulled open his dresser to find some sweatpants and t-shirts for them both before walking back to his bed. He sat beside his lover for a moment, watching his chest rise and fall with each breath.

"Can you move yet?' the demon ran his fingers lightly caressing the soft skin of the man's cheek as blue eyes opened sleepily, looking up at him.

"A little." He assisted the half mortal into a sitting position.

"Here." Wrath guided Naruto's limbs into the soft gray cotton t-shirt and black sweatpants. He helped him lay back once he was fully clothed.

"Thank you." he mumbled into the pillow as the redhead dressed and turned off the light.

"Mmhmm" the sin grunted in response. He returned to his bed, sliding under the covers.

He felt hands reach for him, trying to close the small distance between them. The older figure shifted, scooping up the man in one arm, and pulled him close so he could rest his head on Gaara's chest.

"What are you doing to me?" He pressed his lips to the half mortals forehead as he whispered. Naruto had drifted off and Wrath followed, letting his sleep heavy eyelids close without issue for the first time in five centuries.

"What do you have for me? Shisui was irritated you wanted to meet so late."

"Apologies. You know I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think it was important." They sat in Itachi's car, hidden away in an alley.

"Hnn." Itachi grunted, he had begun to show sleepless circles under his eyes. Restless from work and training his younger brother.

"I found something I think you'd like. The Order has a series of covert operations underway. They seem shady at best. I was able to uncover some data on it but a majority of the files are encrypted." He handed over a USB to the Uchiha.

Itachi took it and stared at it for a moment, trying to put all the pieces together. "What exactly is the nature of these operations?"

"Something involving a demon called the Kyuubi. I couldn't find much more information on the demon itself that didn't involve requesting access to restricted files, which I worry would tip them off."

He had heard that name before, there was little information available on it. He was going to have to do some digging. "How many people are in on this?"

"It doesn't seem like the entire order is aware of it. The top 5 members I'm assuming. I really can't be sure how many of the Order are involved in it yet." Kisame sighed.

They had uncovered valuable intel but were stuck trying to figure out the vital details needed. Itachi closed his eyes as he thought out a plan of action.

"I'll have Shisui work on gaining access to the files. I'll see what I can find on the Kyuubi and see exactly what it is they are after. Keep me updated on this if you hear anything else. We need to be prepared to counter if they make a move."

The annoying ring of his cell phone stirred Gaara from his rest. He grunted in irritation as he reached over and grabbed it. 11AM, the time displayed in the corner above the name of the person who was contacting him.

He frowned as he accepted the call, knowing he couldn't hide anything from her.

"What." the sin hoped he didn't sound like he was still half asleep.

"Did I…..wake you?" She picked up on the grogginess in his voice easily.

"What do you need, Temari?" He ignored the question.

"You never sleep Gaara. Are you feeling well?" Concern was noted. It was true Wrath had a vicious case of insomnia. He slept sometimes, but never for more than 3 hours at a time and never past 8 am.

"I'm fine" He sighed in exasperation.

"It's 11AM and you haven't answered my email or texts or called Kankuro and I to add more work to our pile. What's going on?" her smooth voice sounded through the receiver.

"You know most employees wouldn't complain about not receiving extra work for a day." Gaara was grateful for his assistants. They did work nobody else would do with a sane mind, and they did it extremely well.

"Well that sucks for you because we aren't most employees." She raised her voice as she was becoming annoyed with the front her boss was putting up.

"Give me two hours, I'll have something for you both." He gave a dismissive tone, wanting her to be satisfied enough to end the conversation already.

"Two hours!? That's uncharacteristic-" She paused mid sentence as she heard a new voice in the distance.

"Gaara, can you please tell her to stop yelling? It's too early for yelling." Naruto cut in, voice raspy from sleep. He buried his face back into Wrath's chest, bothered by the light.

Silence came from the other line. Gaara knew there was nothing he could say, his assistant had figured it out.

"...I see….. Two hours then." her voice finally came, ending the conversation.

He set his phone onto the side table and let his head fall back onto his pillow. They had slept about 5 hours, but he felt like he had slept for a week. He stared up at the ceiling thinking about last night's events and how this would change things. The last time Gaara was attached to someone was just before he took over the sin position, and it wasn't exactly a fulfilling relationship either. Fuu had been his one serious relationship. He had a few others before her, the demon considered all his past relations, he never really had much luck when it came to finding love, nor did he ever really care for it before.

He listened to the rhythmic breathing of the blonde wondering if a relationship right now was even possible. If he could pass the trials and become full demon then perhaps there was a slight chance it could work out. They were both past the point of being able to pretend all this didn't happen. Besides Gaara was honest by nature, he would not be able to deceive himself or the half mortal about how he felt. He wondered what Naruto would want and if this would severely complicate things in the long run. He stopped his mind before it began to overthink and decided against jumping to worse case scenarios. The sin wouldn't push the thought anymore, he would just let things unfold in their own time.

"Wh- what time is it?" the half mortal rubbed his eyes and groaned.

"A little past eleven" He watched his lover grab the covers and pull it up over their heads to block out the light.

"Can we just stay in here today?" he pleaded and wrapped his arms around the demon.

"I would love nothing more than to forsake my responsibilities and spend the day in bed with you, but unfortunately we have a meeting to attend." the redhead laughed as the man grumbled at the mention of the meeting.

"It's gonna be so boring, I don't get how you can sit through those things and not doze off." Naruto complained as the covers were lifted back and his eyes felt assaulted by the light.

"How's are you feeling?" Gaara sat up and watched the blond burrow his head in the pillows, trying to stop the pounding headache. He had hoped the over sensory side effects wouldn't follow into the morning but thankfully a headache was the easiest to handle.

"My head feels like it's going to explode, but I'm ok otherwise." the muffled voice came underneath the pile of fabric.

"I'll make you something to help with that. Are you hungry?" Gaara stood.

"Yes, food sounds good." the blonde peaked his head out at the mention of breakfast.

The demon left to the kitchen as Naruto slowly got out of bed and found his way to the bathroom sink to wash his face. He looked in the mirror and froze.

His neck was covered in obvious bite marks and bruises. That was going to be hard to hide. Wrath returned with a water bottle and a mug of hot water with herbs in his hands.

"Oh." He paused and stared for a moment at the dark purple marks considering them. He then set down the beverages on the bathroom counter and opened the medicine cabinet to grab a small container of ointment.

"I'm guessing you don't own any turtlenecks?" the half breed joked.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think about the bruise marks when it happened last night. I don't have anything to cover them but this will help speed up the healing process at least." Wrath apologized again as he applied the medicine to the dark sports.

"It's ok, it was fun. But next time you'll have to leave marks in places only you and I will see." He winked and watched the sin give a knowing glance at the thought.

"Drink both of these" He ordered, putting away the medicine and washed his hands.

"Do I want to know what's in this?" the man sniffed at the mug and looked up at his mentor questioningly.

"Have I ever made you anything that tasted bad?" Wrath challenged.

"No" he reluctantly admitted before taking a cautionary sip. It was good, Naruto took a bigger drink of it enjoying the fresh tea.

"Get dressed, I'll make some food." the demon disappeared back to the kitchen.

Naruto got dressed, trying to find something that would at least partially hide the marks on his neck. He stood in a pair of black joggers staring at the small amount of clothes that hung on the clothing rack of his room. He finally just gave up and pulled on a regular t-shirt. He would have to ask Gaara for a hoodie or something. Hoping the weather was somewhat cool today to justify it.

They pleasantly ate breakfast, and for the first time in a week Naruto momentarily forgot about the training. Although the relief of the anxiety would be short lived he was at least grateful that it was there. The meeting this afternoon would be the individual reviews and check ins with the reapers in preparation for the trials. He would be seated among the seven sins minus his mentor and asked a multitude of questions to assess his abilities, talents and progress so far. Then a score review would be the regular once the tasks had begun. They'd be evaluated after each event as the Sins would replay the task footage and review each contestant's performance, allotting points to the candidates, aside from their own. This would help to determine who would be the leader of the Sins for the next century.

"Will the questions be harder? Should I have studied more?" Naruto set down his fork, finished with his meal.

"You'll do fine, you know it's not a test." Gaara noted he only ate half of his food. The blonde had been eating less with the recent stress. He knew the half blood was beginning to feel incapable as he saw how far along his co competitors were. The pressure to become better was beginning to affect his appetite as well as his sleep patterns.

Naruto absently traced the pattern on the wooden table top. The demon frowned as he noted the nervousness the blonde seemed to have. He took their plates to the sink and returned to sit next to the half breed. Gaara took Naruto's hand that was fidgeting and brought it to his lips.

"You've done this before. This time won't be any different. You can do it." The demon whispered the reassurance before placing another soft kiss on the blonde's wrist.

Naruto nodded as they stood to make their way to their meeting. It was going to be ok, the impending anxiety about his mother's visions begged to differ however. The halfbreed shook his head, fighting the self deprecating thoughts. Nothing was certain. He refused to have come this far only to let himself be defeated because of a vision from twenty some years ago. He would make his own future. Nobody else was allowed to define Naruto anymore, he was going to take control and overcome all this bullshit. He'd be damned if he gave up now.

"You ready?" Gaara stood next to the blonde as they arrived at the doors of the ominous conference room Naruto was always taken to be interviewed.

"Fuck it. I'm ready"


	10. Chapter 10

Author Note: Thank you for all the encouragement and comments! They mean a lot and I am so happy to see people are enjoying my story. I hope everyone continues to enjoy!

* * *

Naruto sat on a bench in the locker room, trying to calm himself with the breathing techniques Gaara had shown him. It wasn't working very well. He closed his eyes and bounced his knee in anxiety, waiting for them to be called in. He heard the chatter of a few of the nominees and their mentors in the next aisle, they seemed so nonchalant and confident. He hung his head in his hands and tried to focus on not freaking out as a familiar figure sat beside him in silence.

"So if I die, the only thing you get to keep of mine is my xmen lunchbox." the blonde joked and turned to see Wrath unamused.

"You'll be fine, just stay focused." He reassured before handing him a matte black pocket knife. Naruto took it and examined the item, letting it spring open to reveal a sharp blade. He turned it and saw the handle was engraved, 'Nostra nobilis ira'

"I originally wanted to have it say, 'Don't do anything stupid,'" Gaara mused.

Naruto gave a genuine laugh. " I've practically come to hell in a handbasket. I doubt I could do anything to make it worse."

"Let's not test that theory." the redhead spoke unamused.

Naruto let his fingers trace the smooth metal of the weapon before mumbling a soft thank you. His eyes met Gaara's and they found themselves in an embrace.

"You'll do just fine." Wrath whispered before letting go and standing.

"Don't worry, I'll make it out alive." the blond smiled as his mentor left the room.

It was a few minutes before a voice came over the intercom calling the challengers. He found himself shoulder to shoulder with Saskue in the hallway as they walked over to a room located just beneath the arena floor.

"You ready?" Naruto asked turning to his friend.

"No." Saskue scoffed but offered a slight smile as they entered the dark room. A small spotlight from above illuminated the seven nominees but nothing else. They jumped as a slightly muffled voice finally spoke from a dark corner of the room.

"Challengers, this is your first task. Good luck." The figure walked into the light revealing a gas mask in place over his face.

The seven panicked as a white gas dispersed into the room eventually rendering everyone unconscious.

X_X_X

Naruto woke up at the sensation of water touching his face. He blinked his eyes and stared at his reflection, confused at the sight. A mirror? The water continued to trickle down and pool at the lower end of his reflection on the floor, soaking into his clothes. He willed himself to sit up but found his arms and feet were bound. He rolled onto his side and caught movement on the ceiling. Mirrored ceiling? The endless echo of infinite mirroring images was disorienting. He tried to focus on the reflective surface to take note of the other competitors, everyone was in a similar state as him, bound with rope and lined up against the mirrored wall. Naruto's brain finally made the connection that it was a mirrored room. He arched his back and stretched his fingers to locate the pocket knife Gaara had gifted him, in his boot. He flipped it open and began cutting at the thick rope. His peripheral vision caught something and he turned his head to see the Sloth nominee stand up and toss his ropes aside as he made a mad dash to the other side of the room and grabbed one of the odd looking masks that sat in a row along a wooden table at the far end.

"Naruto" Saskue had woken up.

"Saskue!" Naruto had freed his feet and was able to kneel now and work at the ties on his wrist behind his back.

"The room is filling up with water fast, we only have about five minutes. We have to get to the other side." The Pride nominee had pulled out his own knife.

Naruto noticed two more nominees free themselves and dash over to grab one of the items left on the table for them. The Envy nominee, Sakura, broke the ties with just her strength and tied her pink hair up as she ran. Sai, the greed challenger had used a lighter to burn through his ropes before the water got too high. The water seemed to have no direct source, it only flowed down the walls from the edge where wall and ceiling meet steadily becoming more rapid as the level began rising faster every minute. It was at knee level by the time Naruto and Saskue had finished cutting through and stood up.

"What are we supposed to do with those mask things?" Naruto quickly waded through the water behind the Uchiha towards the table.

"They allow us to breathe underwater for a limited amount of time." Saskue grabbed at the item on the table and inspected it. "These are pre set for five minutes. That means we still have to find a way out of here or we'll all run out of air."

Naruto followed and snatched a device noticing only one left. He turned around and saw two more nominees struggling to to fight through the now almost waist level water.

"There's only six masks..." the Wrath competitor turned to Saskue at the realization.

"Welcome to the trials." The Uchiha had no emotion in his comment.

The lavender eyed girl reached the table first and grabbed the last remaining air mask. The Gluttony nominee, Karin was right behind and reached out taking a fist full of Hinata's long black hair tugging her down into the water, the device slipping from her hands.

"Nothing personal sweetie, just taking out the weakest link." Karin sneered and barreled a few punches into the girl's face for good measure as the water raised above chest level and everyone began utilizing the air masks.

"Don't even think about it." Saskue warned the blonde, already seeing the wheels in his head turning as he stared at Hinata, dazed from the blows to the face and struggling to stay afloat. Sasuke knew his ex had an inability to ignore his moral compass.

"I have to." Naruto took a deep breath and dove into the water that had well passed everyone's neck level by now. Ever since he was a put into foster care, he carried this unrepentant need for integrity. Even to the point of helping shield others around him from pain, his selfless acts often made him the target for more trouble but his impulse never faded despite the outcome. This situation was no different, as he followed his gut feeling he swam to his co-competitor and helped her get to the surface.

"What are you doing?" She shot him a surprised look as she gasped for air.

"Here" He handed her the mask, noting how low the ceiling was as he treaded water.

"Why?" she stared at him in shock.

"It feels like the right thing to do." he smiled and watched her accept it and submerge with it now on her head.

Naruto took a deep breath and sunk down again trying to figure out a way for him to survive. He saw all the other nominees watching him intently. Some gave him pitying looks, others shook their heads in annoyance. Saskue's face was the only one livid with anger. He ignored the Uchiha for the moment and continued to observe the room. There were no windows, no cameras, or air vents in the sealed space, only the mirrored walls and ceilings that confined them. Naruto racked his brain for some solution, the others had to find a way out as well. Their air wouldn't last forever. It was hard to focus, his mind was full of panic. He shook his head and decided, if he couldn't use his head he may as well use his fists. He resurfaced and took in the last bit of air before the room became completely filled. He could only hold his breath for about a minute, he had to act quickly. Once he was back at the mirror he pulled his arm back and let it collide with the glass.

"I wonder if he actually thought this out or is just frustrated and panicked" Itachi contemplated outlout.

"Doesn't matter, this glass is impenetrable and there's also my special guest nobody has noticed yet." Yamato walked up to the tank and mused. His own mentee, who boasted a ridiculous strength couldn't break the glass.

"He'll die before he can get out." Anko frowned, stating the obvious.

The current figureheads watched from the other side of the mirror, analyzing the competition. Gaara didn't acknowledge as his colleagues gave him side glances knowing it was his nominee, High Lord Wrath's son that would be the first to die in these trials. He shut out the various gasps from the audience as they watched on the giant screens and kept his focus on the glass, willing it to give in under the blonde's fist. Silently screaming on the inside at the stupidity of this half breed.

Movement cause Naruto to turn his head as he noticed a pair of black soulless eyes open, watching him intently. He stared pointedly at her, doubting if his own eyes were playing tricks on him as the camouflaged creature smirked at the buffet of bodies before it. Naruto watched it slowly peeled herself away from the corner she was hiding in, letting her black scales show and licking her spindly fingers as her tail flicked back and forth. Finally the rest of the competitors noticed their next pressing issue and chaos quickly ensued. Half the challengers were charging at it with whatever weapons they had on hand. The other half were using the table as a shield, huddling behind it, probably half hoping they wouldn't need to take on the stuff of their nightmares. The blond took advantage that everyone seemed to be preoccupied at the moment and continued to assault the glass.

Naruto was running out of air. He continued to frantically punch the mirror wall. He had to make it. He tried to collect his thoughts, he couldn't let it end here. He absolutely had to see it through. He promised himself he'd see Tenten, Lee and Kiba again. He promised Gaara he'd give it his all and make it out alive. He had to find a way, he couldn't let this be the end. He shut his eyes and felt his body giving out, his lungs began to burn for air and the involuntary gasp he couldn't help but make as he felt himself still. It sealed his fate. This had been his grand finale. Drowning in hell, what an oxymoronic way to die. His mind faded, softly dimming as his thoughts felt muted and he surrendered to this feeling of death, a force he could not command.

Odd. It was warm. Nothing like what he expected. A possessive heat stirred in him, growing uncomfortably hotter by the second. He felt himself move out of his control, out of his body. All his emotion was being pulled, channelled, filtered into his punch, striking again. A crack appeared under his fist and spidered out, growing across the glass. Naruto felt a power radiate and continue to take over within him. His eyes flashed red as he opened them and struck again with more force than he ever felt in his life. Glass shattered and the Wrath nominee found himself spilling out onto the arena floor as the water gushed out from the room.

"Naruto, can you hear me? Naruto, wake up." a pair of recognized hands held the blonds face.

"Told you I'd make it out alive." He joked groggily before rolling over and coughed up an obscene amount of water. He was alive, back in his body. Living, breathing, anything but dead.

"Reckless idiot" Gaara helped Naruto to his feet.

The sound of a crowd cheering as the nominee rose caused the half mortal to become disoriented. He looked over to see the room he had been in was set in the middle of the arena, broken glass and water still puddling around where the sins stood talking excitedly as their mentees ran out of the mirrored room.

"Congratulations" a voice echoed over the loudspeaker. "You've all passed the first task. Next task is two weeks from today. Be prepared, they only get harder from here on out."

The giant screens showed the task that just played out again on replay as the announcer spoke. Naruto watched as Hinata took several hits to the face again and Naruto swimming over to give her his mask. It fast forwarded to Naruto punching at the glass as the other nominees were busy fending off the bloodsucking siren. The horror as his air began to run out and he went still, then came back to life with a hit that cracked the glass. The figureheads moved away from the mirror at that point, knowing they'd get caught in the stream of gushing water when it broke. It went into slow motion as the blonde opened his eyes and they flashed an unnatural red before shattering the glass and being sucked out with the force of the water and tumbling onto the glass strewn arena floor. It resumed to normal speed as Gaara ran out to him and knelt over grabbing his face in his hands telling him to wake up, and eventually rising to his feet.

"Come." Gaara tossed the half breed a towel once the replay was over and the crowd began throwing roses out onto the field. Naruto obeyed his mentors order in silence as they headed for the changing room.

"On a scale of one to stab me in my sleep, how mad are you?" Naruto finally asked as he dripped on the cold tile floor in front of his locker, clinging to the towel wrapped around him.

"Smother you with a pillow." the demon responded curtly as he rummaged through a backpack. He handed his mentee a fresh towel and a change of clothes and sent him off to get cleaned up.

"I can't tell if you're actually a genius or out of your mind." A voice came from behind Naruto as he exited the showers. He turned to find the Sloth challenger watching him.

"Definitely an idiot" a familiar voice appeared from behind a curtain.

"Shut it, Uchiha." the blonde rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Idiot or not, that was hella awesome." The girl with pink hair praised as she walked by giving him a wink.

Naruto blushed and headed back to get his backpack from his locker. He found a familiar woman with long dark hair standing in front of it, arms crossed and a scowl in her face.

"Hi. Can I get my stuff?" Naruto mentioned when she didn't move as he approached.

"I appreciate what you did, but don't think that I now owe you something because of it." She stared him down.

"Ok." He responded casually when he opened his locker after she let him pass and watched him take out the his backpack and stuff his damp clothes inside.

"I'm s- serious." She let a small stutter slip.

"I'm not looking for favors, so don't worry about it." He addressed her statement and zipped up his bag.

"Why did you do it if you weren't looking for favors then?" She asked, in disbelief that he didn't hold it over her head.

"I told you, it felt like the right thing to do." He shut his locker and smiled.

She had no clue how to respond to that.

"See you later." He shrugged into his backpack and exited the locker room, leaving behind a very confused Hinata.

X_X_X

"What were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry but I couldn't just let her die" Naruto argued back. He didn't understand why they were arguing in the first place.

"So you put your life at risk instead for someone who would probably cut you in two if given the chance?" Gaara chided, obviously displeased.

"Well excuse me for having a conscience and valuing the lives of others!" the halfbreed exclaimed.

"Your life is important too. You matter Naruto."

Naruto stared back at that declaration from Gaara. Ever since his mother had past, nobody else had ever really regarded him as worth anything. He had become just another burden, an extra mouth to feed, another number in the foster system. Years of scrambling for some form of validation from anybody during his foster years had been fruitless. He had remained void inside, worthless and broken. The very words the blonde longed for growing up and had lost all hope of ever hearing had just spilled from the mouth of the demon before him. He was definitely not used to hearing it.

"Oh"

"You need to think before you act, you can't just be willing to throw your life away at every dangerous turn by trying to play the hero." Gaara continued to scold, not looking back at the half blood.

"I'm sorry. You're right, I wasn't thinking." Naruto apologized calmly, all anger lost. He hung his head slightly in shame, he hadn't taken the time in the situation to realize Gaara had thought of him as important. He hadn't taken into account there was someone who would miss him if he died, someone who would hurt if he didn't survive.

The redhead turned around noting the change in tone and finally looked his lover in the eye. He carefully observed the figure before him, noting the sudden change in the tone of the argument. He closed the space between them, a hand now on Naruto's tan cheek. Green eyes now soft as they took in every feature, every curve, every freckle and blemish of his lovers face, etching it into his memory.

"Naruto, I know death is an ultimate risk in these trials. I understand your actions and part of me is glad you are willing to help others but you need to remember at what cost. There were other ways you could have helped her that wouldn't have been anywhere near as dangerous as what you did. You are important to me. Please promise me you'll be more cautious from now on." It escaped the sins lips, barely a whisper.

A nod, followed by an "I promise" as Naruto brought his forehead to the demon's lips and snaked his arms around his mentors torso. They stood for a moment in silence before Naruto spoke again.

"So, do I get a reward for passing the first trial?" A sly smile spread across the half demon's face as he eyed his mentor.

"Reward? I hardly think passing by the skin of your teeth is deserving of any sort of praise." Gaara quickly dismissed the notion with a quirk of his brow.

"Oh, c'mon! That was a tough task. I think I did really good!" The blond pouted.

"I should make you run an extra mile in the morning for your insolence out there."

"You're relentless." Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes.

A warm melodic chuckle sounded before Gaara led an assault of kisses onto Naruto and pinned him up against the bedroom wall. Naruto gasped, briefly surprised at the sudden onslaught but welcomed it with a laugh before catching the demon's mouth with his.

"All right, Tell me what you want Naruto. Anything you want." Gaara continued to trail kisses down the blond's jaw as he spoke.

Naruto's breath hitched as the demon had began to nip the flesh at the base of his neck. "Gaara.."

He rested his head back against the wall he was pinned against. Feeling their arousals grind together as the half breed pushed his hips forward into the demons. He hummed in approval as pale fingers found the tanned skin of his torso, lifting his shirt as they continued to trail up following the slight curve of his muscles. The smooth metal of the piercings in the demon's mouth gave the blonde shivers of pleasure every time they passed over his skin.

"Right now, I want your cock in my mouth." Naruto spun them around so Gaara was against the wall before the other could even process what the blonde had just said.

The half breed swiftly dropped to his knees as his hands worked at the button and zipper of Gaara's jeans. A slight hiss from the demon as Naruto slid the pants down a bit, freeing Gaara's erection. Blue eyes flitted up to watch the redhead's expressions as the blond teased him a bit through the fabric of his underwear. He licked his lips at the thought of the thick length filling his mouth. Naruto used his teeth to drag down the waistband, watching the demons shaft begin to throb at its growing arousal. A tan hand gently gripped its base following smooth strokes as the other hand worked to free his own cock from the confines of his sweatpants.

"Naruto.." Wrath moaned, pressing his weight back into the wall.

"Please Gaara. I need it." Naruto pleaded, looking up with the burning desire to please in his eyes.

The demon finally nodded and with that the half breed swirled his tongue over the pre cum that gathered on the tip and lightly sucked the head into his mouth. He let his hand and tongue work, listening to the pleasured moaning from his lover above. For Naruto, there was nothing that could compare to the rush he got from giving a blow job. The feeling of a hard cock in his mouth drove him insane with arousal and the sensation of accomplishment when it was all said and done. The half breed had been craving to get his mouth on his mentor ever since they first showered together and Naruto saw it in all of its erect glory. The blond slowed his tongue and grabbed Gaara's hips in order to gain some control and began to gently push him further into his mouth.

"Fuck"

Naruto took that as encouragement as he slowly bobbed his head feeling the tip begin to lightly graze the back of his throat as he loosened his jaw accommodate it to fit comfortably. His free hand wandered, trailing the pale flesh of thighs and ass, in a form of worship at the strength hidden just beneath his fingers. The blond pulled back slowly off Gaara's length briefly to catch his breath and looked up at his lover. He gave a coy smile, wearing the drool that dripped down his chin proudly.

That smile, fuck. Gaara pulled whatever small sense of self control he had left to not cum on the spot. He watched the half breed wink before taking the demon's whole again, letting it fully hit against the back of his throat. Wrath laced his fingers through golden hair as Naruto showed off his skill by letting his mouth linger at the base a little longer, nuzzling the soft hair with his nose each time the tip hit the back. He pulled off again, messily this time, leaving Gaara's arousal covered in slick drool. Strands of spit stretched between Naruto's lips and the thick length, the collar of the half breeds t shirt was soaked in saliva and Naruto was an absolute wreck with his intense lust filled eyes, desperately reaching back to stroke his own erection as he kneeled on the floor.

"Please... " Naruto begged flicking his thumb across the sensitive head before returning his mouth to take the demon again.

Gaara understood what Naruto was asking of him and slowly thrust forward feeling a moan escaped the very mouth he was ramming himself into. It vibrated through him causing a pickup in the rhythm his hips had found. Wrath could feel every groan and reflex Naruto made in pleasure as he grabbed at the back of Naruto's head and forced it to meet with each of his swift thrusts.

"Naruto. I- I'm gonna cum" Gaara managed to warn between uncontrolled breaths and the violent bucking of his hips.

The half breed pulled his mouth off in time as the milky fluid sprayed across Naruto's mouth and cheek. The tan hand stayed on Gaara's length gently stroking out every last bit of cum. The demon moaned and watched a heavy lidded Naruto continue to work at his own cock, steadily leaking as he pumped it. A pale hand move from blonde locks to the half breeds smooth cum free cheek. He let his thumb gently trail the skin as he watched the man's chest rapidly rise and fall with his shallow breathing. Gaara eyed the creamy liquid that still painted Naruto's face.

"Naruto" he let his thumb linger close to where it splashed across his lovers mouth.

Naruto locked his gaze on the demon's glass green eyes. He slowly parted his lips and dragged his tongue across them, gathering the substance on its tip and bringing it back into his perfect pink mouth.

"Fuck, you're so amazing. Such a good boy." The redhead growled.

Naruto lost it at those last four words and messily came in ragged breaths across the floor before collapsing.

X_X_X

"This whole knocking us out and waking up in random places is getting old real fast…" Naruto grumbled as he pushed himself up off the ground.

At least this time he wasn't tied up and he was supplied with a larger weapon for this task. He brushed the dirt off his long sleeved, general issued shirt and took in his surroundings. Trees, vines, humidity, mosquitoes…. Fuck. Why did it have to be a jungle? He rubbed at his head recalling the instructions for their second task given to them by the Greed Sin before they were all rendered unconscious. Basically he just had to make it to the other side of the jungle and cross into the base line by sunrise. Sounded easy enough, if you forgot to factor in the whole surviving a night in a fucking jungle and figuring out which way was the right way to go in the first place like Naruto did. Shit.

He picked up the tomahawk that lay on the ground next to him and pulled the head out if its sheath to inspect it. It was sharp, plenty enough to deal some serious damage. He patted his pockets and found he was also left with his pocketknife Gaara had gifted him, a lighter and the protection charm Shizune had given him a year ago. He smiled to himself knowing Gaara had to be the one who had put it there.

"Ok then, first things first…." He shoved the items back in his pocket and held the handle of the tomahawk between his teeth as he began to climb the tallest tree he could find.

It wasn't much help. He was smack in the middle of the fucking greenery and the tree wasn't tall enough to really give him the best sense of what direction to head in. He sighed inwardly, he wasn't a goddamn boy scout. How the hell was he going to get through this one? He descended the tree and finally just decided by this point that walking in literally any direction was probably better than staying in the middle of the jungle all night. He set off in what he hoped was north but fuck if he knew. The half breed hoped to Satan that he wouldn't almost die this time.

The last task had been a catastrophe. His near death experience gave him vigor to fight through, although he wasn't sure that it would really help get him anywhere. He'd be dead if it wasn't for that weird out of body experience he had. It was still kind of a blurry memory for him, but when he mentioned it to Gaara he found himself being interrogated by his mentor. Wrath saw the shift of eye color when Naruto broke the glass and said he would look into it, but for now unless some miracle dropped from the sky he only had his frail half mortal self to rely on. Piece of cake.

Naruto was unsure how much time passed since he began walking but he thought it was a good idea to periodically check where he was from the canopy just on the off chance he was headed the right direction, but more to try and make sure he wasn't going around in circles. That was until it got dark and everything became significantly harder. The blond also tried to move quietly, remembering the creepy monster from the last task, he hoped there were no more of those kinds of surprises. That hope was of course short lived as he heard the most terrifying inhuman shriek of his life from somewhere up ahead. Against his better judgement he ran ahead as the noises became louder and a familiar voice yelled out in pain.

"What the hell is that?!" Naruto charged in swinging his weapon violently as the beast held down the Uchiha with its claw.

"A fucking wyvern! Get it off me!" Sasuke had sunk his sword into its side but the creature proved to be fast as it now pinned the Uchiha to the ground

The blond wedged his tomahawk into the scaly leg of the monster causing it to retract its claw in pain. "What did you do to piss it off so badly?"

"It attacked me first!" the raven haired man quickly retrieved his sword, barely missing the beasts swinging tail by an inch.

"That's hard to believe. You have a tendency to just piss people off, teme." Naruto joked as he dodged the wyverns talons and sliced at it again.

A rushing wind knocked them both over as the creature extended its long leathery wings, and began to flap them, rising into the air.

"It can fly?!" Naruto shouted in surprise.

"Do you not know what a wyvern is? What is Gaara teaching you?" Sasuke grabbed the blond by his collar and dragged him away from the monster as fast as possible before it tried to attack again.

They both ran until Naruto tripped over a patch of vines and face planted into what he swears must have been a strategically placed puddle of mud. He rolled onto his back, wiping the grit off with his shirt sleeve as best he could.

"How the hell did you survive the first trial again?" The Uchihas mocking came after the fit of laughter.

"Shut it, asshole." Naruto accepted the outstretched hand that helped him back to his feet.

"We need to come up with something. What supplies do you have?"

"Just this tomahawk, a lighter, my pocket knife and an enchanted dragon scale." Naruto pulled the items out of his pocket for his friend to see.

"Wow, the fates must hate you."

Naruto glared as Sasuke slipped off the small pack he had been carrying. "I've got my sword, a GPS with two way radio capability and about eighty feet of rope."

"How the fuck did they let you have a GPS?" The blond fumed.

"Itachi must have threatened someone. I'm surprised you weren't allowed more, Gaara went at it with the reapers when they wouldn't approve you more than two items for this task and they were two useless items at that. It was pretty scary when he started shouting and that's cause I was outside the meeting room when it happened."

Naruto laughed. "Of course"

"Be grateful he sticks up for you, you'd be in a lot of trouble if he wasn't your mentor."

"Yeah, I know."

They stood in silence for a moment, unsure of what to do. Naruto stared up at the canopy that obstructed much of the view of the night sky.

"So that GPS of yours can tell us where we are going then?"

"Direction wise yes. The problem is we don't know where the gate is located. It doesn't do us much good to know where we are if we don't even know where we are supposed to go." The raven haired figure pulled up the digital map on the screen showing where they currently were amidst a massive sea of trees and misery.

If only they could find a tree tall enough to see the direction of the gate, they'd have a better chance. A faint screeching off in the distance caught his attention.

"I've got an idea that you're not going to like." The blond said with a sly smile.

Naruto was correct, Sasuke hated the plan. It was a sure fire way to get them killed but it was all they could come up with and dawn was soon approaching. Naruto stood in position atop a tree, large dry branch wrapped in his torn off shirt sleeves and lighter in hand.

"You ready?" The half breed spoke into the small bluetooth ear piece.

"All set. Light it up." Sasuke voice came over the radio.

Naruto took a deep breath and lit the makeshift torch he had made. He let it catch before shoving the lighter into his pocket and rose it up into the air.

"Nothing is happening."

"Give it a moment, it'll come. Make sure you wave it around." The Uchiha gave direction over the radio.

Naruto sighed and flailed his arm, feeling like an outright idiot. Apparently wyverns had a poor sense of hearing and rely heavily on sight. So there he was, standing on a tree waving a torch, acting as bait. A minute passed before he heard the tell tale screech that the plan was working. The thought was short lived and all of it fell to shit when he heard two more resounding calls headed his way.

"Change of plans" Naruto dropped down from the tree as they monsters moved in on him.

Sasuke responded in obvious irritation. "What now?"

"There's more than one wyvern" the halfbreed tried to keep the panic out of his voice. It didn't work too well.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Abort mission. Abort, abort, abort!" the blond began running, hearing the beat of several sets of wings above him.

"We can't just drop the plan!" The Uchiha barked out.

"Easy for you to say, you don't have three monsters chasing you through a fucking jungle!" Naruto barely dodged an underlying branch as he booked it to the meeting point. He heard the wyverns following him while the flame of his torch continued to burn bright in the jungle.

"You're the one with the protection charm." There was that mocking tone Sasuke liked to use with him.

"I don't even know if it works!" He mentally reminded himself to watch out for the tree roots coming up.

"Shizune would be so offended if she could hear you right now."

Naruto groaned in distress. "I'm gonna fucking die."

"Trust me will you?"

"Ha. Trust a demon, sounds smart." Worst advice ever.

"Half demon" Sasuke corrected, now sounding unbothered by the whole situation.

"Right, how could I forget." The blond dead panned. "Get ready, I'm rounding the corner."

Naruto dashed into the small clearing by a dried up river bank they had found thanks to the GPS. He tossed the torch away from him into the mud and made sure to stay perfectly still. One of the beasts landed, stalking the bright light a few meters from him.

"Any day now." The blond spoke in a low voice. He didn't are move from his spot as he waited for Sasuke to continue with their plan.

Carefully and calculated, Sasuke moved swiftly dropping the rope around the creature's neck as he jumped onto its back. He rapidly moved under the Wyvern, weaving between its thrashing talons to tie the makeshift harness in place. The other two monsters hovered slightly above making attempts to swoop down at the half breed attacking the one in the ground.

"Good to go. Come on!" Dark eyes locked onto blue as Naruto burst into movement, hauling ass to close the space between him and the Wyvern writhing about. They clamored on its back while the monster was still confused, gripping the ropes tightly as it began to rise into the sky. The other two beasts kept their distance, obviously unsure if attacking their larger sibling was a good idea. Naruto let out a yelp as the beast bolted through the sky, twisting and turning in an attempt to get them off its back.

"This is so much worse than Gaara's motorcycle. I am never complaining about his driving ever again!" The blond held the rope around his hands so tight he was sure the circulation had been cut off from his fingers.

"Over there!" Sasuke pointed to the left.

Just at the horizon line about four miles away was the gate. So far it looked like only one of the competitors had crossed it but they were running out of time. The sky was turning lighter shades of pink indicating the sun would rise shortly.

"Can we make it?" Naruto was grateful that the wyvern had stopped doing barrel rolls and was now just thrashing its head around.

Sasuke gave a snide laugh. "I really hope that lucky charm of yours works."

The Uchiha gave a hard tug on the improvised reins and the flying reptile unwilling moved in the direction they needed. He then proceeded to use the heels of his feet to deliver a hard kick to the monster which sent them bolting through the air once more.

"Sas, how are we gonna stop? This thing doesn't have breaks!" They were quickly approaching their destination and the wyvern was veering off course, trying to return back to the heart of the jungle.

"Jump you idiot!" Sasuke grabbed the blond hastily as they plummeted back down into the lush greenery that managed to break their fall just enough.

Naruto groaned as he slowly moved around taking account if he had broken anything. Thankfully just his sense of total faith in his friend was the only thing hurt. "You have no idea how much I hate you right now."

"Noted"

The two half breeds noticed that three figures now stood just past the gate. Somewhere between them racing through the air and falling from their begrudging ride two more nominees had crossed. They trudged their way the last few feet towards the gate only for Naruto to be stopped by a knife to his throat.

To his surprise he was more annoyed than anything else. "Seriously?"

"I really don't like these odds. We are already in the second trial and I haven't had my fill of bloodshed." She laughed darkly as she stood behind him and pressed her blade against his flesh.

"You may want to rethink that." Sasuke had reached for his katana and was narrowing his eyes at the woman behind Naruto.

The rest of three nominees that had already crossed the gate watched in interest, leaning casually against the chain link fence. None of them making any moves to jump in. They still didn't fully trust each other, not in the life or death sense anyway. It was understandable.

The blond was working his mind to remember how to get out of that type of back choke hold. He knew it, Gaara had constantly done it during their hand to hand sparring. There was the added element of the knife but fuck if he let all those months getting kicked in the ass during sparring be for nothing. He inhaled waiting for the right moment to try and subdue her.

A gurgling sound at his ear threw him off focus. He looked over at Sasuke who had a mildly surprised look on his face. The woman's arms around him became limp and the weapon fell to the dirt. The half breed turned back to face his attacker only to find her choking on her own blood as it spilled from her mouth in dark crimson drops.

"Nothing personal of course, but I'm afraid the weakest link is you." Long dark hair and lilac eyes appeared and whispered to the dying women, soft and taunting. She pulled her axe out of the dead body once the life had left its eyes and watched her limply crash to the ground with a smirk.

"Holy shit" Naruto froze absolutely certain he was going to experience death by psycho axe murder.

Hinata marched forward glaring at the blue eyed half demon as she passed him. "We're even."

All Naruto could manage was a deeply confused look as Sasuke shook his head in annoyance and yanked the blond along by his collar across the gate just before the sun broke over the horizon.


	11. Chapter 11

"The goal for this task is to find and retrieve the three scrolls of Eternal Suffering I have hidden in various places throughout the area. Bring them back before the gate closes and locks you in. You have one hour. Don't bother coming back unless you've got a scroll in your hand. Good Luck." Kakashi shoved his hands in his pockets after waving them out into the abandoned cityscape and the large digital clock projected in the sky began to tick.

"Sounds easy enough..." Naruto had hoped, but he already learned that no matter how easy the instructions for the tasks were there would be nothing quick or simple about it.

"Knowing Kakashi, we are all probably going to die." Shikamaru shrugged and began making his way through the streets, observing everything with a bored look on his face.

"Wanna stick together on this one?" The blonde nudged Sasuke as the rest of the competitors began going separate ways.

The Uchiha thought for a moment before speaking. "Our chances of survival go up if we stick together but our chances of finding the scroll are greater if we spread out."

"Which one is more important to you then?"

Sasuke scoffed. "Fine, I guess we can try sticking together on this one. It worked out last time."

"Don't sound so excited, Teme." the blond rolled his eyes at the Uchiha before following him down the abandoned street.

They began searching through rubble and dilapidated storefronts for any clues as to where the scrolls might be hidden. They found nothing but dust and cobwebs, much to their frustration. Naruto looked up at the time in the sky to see that fifteen minutes had already passed. His shoulders sagged at that fact. He stopped to think analyzing the tall buildings that surrounded them when a figure caught his eye.

"Hey Shika, you wanna team up with us?" Naruto shouted out to the half breed that had scaled the side of the five story building and was now sitting at the roof edge staring at the sky.

"What are you doing? You trust him enough to team up with him?" Sasuke questioned the blond.

"He knows Kakashi best and he's wicked smart, you ass. If anyone can figure out where the scrolls are hiding and what else is in store for this task it's him." They shifted their focus back to the Sloth competitor.

He seemed to be gazing at them almost indifferent, before he waved them up to the roof. For whatever reason the lazy man agreed to it and they stood on the rooftop blankly trying to figure out what their teammate was looking at, as Shikamaru went back to watching the clouds pass by.

"Umm, so any ideas where to start looking?" Naruto spoke after a minute.

"Shhh" The half breed laying on the roof silenced him and threw a bored glare his way. He closed his eyes and seemed to have opted for taking a nap instead.

"Ok, I don't have time for this. Naruto, we have to find those scrolls." Sasuke huffed and began to walk off.

"Good luck. There's over eight hundred buildings in this abandoned city, you really think you'll be able to thoroughly search them all in time?" Shikamaru didn't once open his eyes as he addressed the Uchiha.

"Better than just laying around, taking a nap."

The half breed shrugged at Sasuke in response. "I'm multitasking."

Naruto sighed at the impatience of his friend. "C'mon Sas, don't be like that. Give him a chance will ya? He's one hell of a strategist. I know that for a fact, he trained with me for a few weeks."

"Tch." The raven haired man frowned but stayed put, tapping his finger against his hip rapidly in aggravation.

"The three scrolls are on complete opposite ends of the city. Being able to collect them all individually is a challenge and as a team is impossible, however all we'll need is one scroll." Shikamaru finally stood and dusted his pants off.

Naruto scratched at the back of his head as he thought, "But I thought Lord Sloth said we needed to get a scroll to cross…"

"Right, a scroll. He assumed we'd all be working individually. There was nothing about working as a team though. It's open for debate and possible that they'd let it slide since he didn't bother to explain that or say we couldn't work as a unit. In any case we can see how much time we have after capturing one. We may be able to snag another, depending on how much resistance we face and how fast we are."

"Resistance?" Sasuke raised a brow at the word.

"You didn't think that they'd just have the scrolls out in the open, unguarded now did you?"

"Damn it." Naruto swore. That hadn't occurred to him in the slightest.

Shikamaru scoffed. "Alright, Naruto you're physically the strongest of us three and Uchiha, you've got that lightning affinity..."

"How'd you know about that?" Sasuke furrowed his brow.

"People talk, shadows whisper. You'd be surprised how much you hear when you take a nap around others." The sloth contender smirked.

Naruto burst out laughing and praised the strategist. "Clever, dude!"

"Shut up, moron." The Uchiha groaned.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll play to our strengths. Don't get ahead of yourselves. The scroll at the water tower is the closest one to us. Let's head that way."

They ran across the city at a mild pace, trying their best to stay in the shadows as per Shikamaru's plan. The water tower was fenced in by a tall ten foot chain link gate. Shika disappeared for a moment and returned with a large industrial floor rug from a nearby shop.

"Naruto give us a lift, careful not to hurt yourself. Blood would be very bad right now." The sloth competitor said as he tossed the rubber bottom of the carpet to hang over the barbed wire so they wouldn't cut themselves as they easily climbed over.

The blond hoisted them over the fence before leaping up with strong legs to pull himself across and landed softly next to them glancing around. He shuddered as the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. "Anyone else get the feeling we're being stalked?"

"We are. Don't make any sudden movements until we grab the scroll." Shika calmly continued forward to the large steel ladder that lead to the top of the tower.

"My head is telling me don't ask but I'm gonna ignore it like I always do and ask. What exactly is following us?" Naruto whispered harshly.

Shikamaru let out a small quiet laugh. "It's Kakashi's test, dumbass. What do you think?"

X-X-X-X

"Ya know, the being chased by deadly creatures thing is becoming a little overkill" Naruto huffed as they booked it down the street away from the hounds that were quickly gaining. They had only found one scroll but a pack of ten hounds swiftly descended on them almost as soon as they had grabbed it.

"Fuck finding the other two scrolls. We'll be lucky to out run these fuckers in time." Sasuke tossed the scroll to Shikamaru. "I'm gonna try to get a few off your backs. Keep running." The Uchiha abruptly leapt up to the building, running along the brick walls. He turned and threw a handful of daggers hitting several hounds. Unfortunately it only slowed their pace, their focus unyielding as they chased the scroll.

"Anything in that big brain of yours about how to get them to stop?!"

"I can't just call off a kill command! Kakashi is the only one who can do that."

"We have company." Sasuke jumped back down to run alongside Naruto and Shikamaru.

In the distance two familiar figures were approaching followed by a another massive pack of vicious hounds.

"Shit" Naruto swore, his legs ached but he didn't dare slow his sprinting pace. Sasuke had hurt enough of them that they were all limping somewhat but the pack behind the Hyuga and Sakura was triple the size of what they were being chased by. He glanced up at the clock in the sky, five minutes before the gate closed. They had to make it.

"I think I've got an idea. Sasuke can you try to take out some of the horde chasing the girls? We'll need to thin the pack as best we can, or at least slow them down. See if the Envy girl can help you. Be ready to use your lightning when I tell you." Shika spoke rapidly. Sasuke nodded and bolted over placing a firm grip on his katana.

"Naruto, you take the scroll and go to the gate, we'll be close behind. Get the Hyuga to follow you. I'll take care of making sure they don't get through the gate before it closes. Put up a barrier just in case."

The blond caught the item tossed to him and waved over for Hinata to follow him. She didn't hesitate as Sasuke and Sakura began taking on hounds from a distance as best as they could. Shikamaru dashed ahead and deliberately released the fire hydrant at the end of the road soaking the street with the gushing water. Naruto willed his legs to carry him just a little further feeling the adrenaline pump through his body and carry him through. They crossed the gate, tossing the scrolls to the floor and slowing their pace to catch their breaths. Naruto turned back, placing his hands out and muttering an incantation Gaara had taught him, he hoped it was powerful enough to keep out the hounds should they escape past the others. His eyes danced across the city scape to watch Sasuke, Sakura and Shikamaru follow through with the rest of the plan. Once they crossed the building Shika was waiting as Sasuke turned back around and charged his body with lightning, slamming his hands down into the flooded street. Dozens of hounds cried out as they were electrified, falling over in limp piles.

"That was a close one, huh?" Sakura cheered as she crossed the gate and turned to a still breathless Hinata and Naruto.

"We only got two scrolls." Sasuke grumbled as he approached them.

"Shit! Well maybe.." Sakura began.

"There's only one minute left. You're stupid if you think we can find it in one minute and go through that all over again." Shikamaru yawned, joining them across the gate.

"Or it could come to us." Hinata pointed back out to the figure headed their way followed by at least a hundred ferocious hellhounds.

"You've got to be kidding me" Shikamaru threw his head back and groaned.

"Fuck" Naruto breathed out.

He was still out of breath. His mind began working to try and figure out the best way to help the man. If he ran out there there was no guarantee he'd make it back before the gate shut but he knew that couldn't just leave him out there to be killed by hellhounds. Before he could take a step Sasuke uncharacteristically bolted back into the cityscape towards the Greed competitor.

"Hold the gate!" Sasuke shouted.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Hinata yelled out as the warning alarm began blaring and the heavy metal gate above them began to drop down.

Sai stumbled as a hound bit at his heels and crashed into the cracked pavement beneath him with a shout of surprise. Naruto heard a strangled yelp come from the monster as Sasuke plunged his sword through the beast before it could rip Sai apart. He took on several as they continued to try and attack the now injured candidate, growing more ferocious at the smell of spilt blood. Pulling the half breed back up, they stood back to back weapons drawn against the massive hoard. It didn't look good for either of them.

Naruto watched the gate continue to drop further. He ran up to stand beneath it, outstretching his hands above his head and gripping the bottom of the massive iron gate, acting as a wedge to hold it open as best as he could.

"Ah, shit. You guys are so troublesome." Shikamaru sighed and dashed back out swiftly jumping up to the buildings.

"No worries guys, take your time. This isn't heavy at all." The blonde sarcastically grunted under the immense weight. His knees were giving out, the adrenaline from before long gone and the pain began setting in. The protective ward from before was wavering too, Naruto was unable to keep both the gate and the barrier up. He watched it flicker out, straining to hold the gate up longer.

"I got you." The pink haired girl took place next to Naruto and began to work at keeping the gate open. Amazingly he felt the weight lessen significantly and the gate lift a tad as she pushed up against it.

"Sakura!" A whip cracked out as Hinata jumped to protect them from the stray hounds that found their way to them. The Hyuga worked at keeping them at bay but the numbers were rapidly multiplying. She swung one around and tossed it away from the gate as another tried to charge her. She quickly jumped out of the way and swung her weapon around to catch its feet and send it reeling back against a wall with a whimper.

"Hurry the fuck up!" Hinata angrily shouted as yet another attacked her.

Explosions sounded from the opposite end of the city as Shikamaru appeared next to Sasuke and Sai. "We gotta move. NOW!"

They placed Sai between them as he slung his arms around them and let them carry him to safety. More explosions rang out as the buildings began imploding and toppling over, crushing the beasts beneath them. It felt like a lame slow motion scene from a cheesy action movie as Naruto watched everyone run back away from the exploding buildings and raging hellhounds in the distance. Except the explosions and hell hounds were rapidly approaching too, and he felt the weight of the gate begin to crush him despite Sakura helping take the burden of it. Hinata crossed the threshold and pulled Sakura back at the same time Sasuke ducked under the gate yanking Naruto once Sai and Shikamaru were in the clear. The metal slammed closed with heavy thud and the sound of everything else ceased.

They all lay on the floor, breathless and exhausted. Sai was the first to speak.

"Thank you." He winced as he sat up, and began trying to stop the bleeding from the bite on his ankle.

"Ino would have killed me if you died. I really didn't have a choice." Sasuke frowned and glared at Naruto who was giving him an amused look.

"Well, I vote we never do that ever again." Naruto slowly moved into a sitting position, assessing the physical damage of the task.

"I second that." Sakura began rolling her shoulders as the turned to the Hyuga. "Thank you for saving us towards the end there." She smiled as Hinata simply nodded and flushed.

"Well, well. Congratulations. You got all three scrolls in the allotted amount of time without anyone dying and you managed to even work together. I'm pleasantly surprised. Although you were a little harsh on my dogs." Kakashi appeared in the middle of the group.

"A little harsh? They were trying to kill us. We reacted perfectly fine if you ask me." Hinata crossed her arms, obviously annoyed.

"Alright, well the test was supposed to try and put you all against each other to fight for the scrolls but you seemed to have seen through that and it looks like everyone got to work as a team. I'm rather impressed, I suppose. Good work. The reapers will post the scores sometime tomorrow."

Three tasks down, Naruto sighed in relief. Just four more to go. Other than the typical danger from the trials there was nothing else that seemed to be giving him a sense of impending peril. No more strange outbursts of power or odd out of body feelings. Maybe his mother was wrong about this one, maybe he would survive just fine. The blond smiled at the hopeful thought before returning to where his mentor waited. Maybe he'd be ok after all.

X-X-X-X

Pride leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his eyes. Shisui had finally been able to decrypt the flash drive that Kisame had given him, and the information he found on it was well worth it. Now he just had to find a way to strategize a counter to what the Order was doing. The demon himself had found only one physical file in the restricted access area of Hell's records and it was not much to go on. They only referenced Kyuubi as a mysterious demonic power source being wielded by one of the first fallen angels that followed Lucifer. The digital files however were most helpful, as they went into why the Order would be seeking its power. It seems like they are planning on taking this ancient beast from wherever it lay dormant and basically using its power to reinvent the mortal plane, eliminate the imperfections and create a perfect world order. It was a lot to think about and right now the demon couldn't stand to be in his desk a moment longer. Itachi gathered his things and left his office deep in thought about everything he had found out last night. His phone buzzed in his pocket as he entered the elevator and pressed the ground floor.

"Hey."

 _"'Tachi. Are you coming home already?"_

"I just left my office."

 _"Ok, well the brat's driving me insane. Please come tell him to stop eating my stash of sweets before I strangle him."_

"He does it on purpose to annoy you."

 _"STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MY COMPUTER YOU LITTLE SHIT!"_ Shisui shouted in the distance at, Itachi assumed, his younger brother.

 _"I wasn't anywhere near your computer, stop being such a shit head."_ Sasuke's voice groaned in the background.

Of course, Shisui had an ongoing feud with his brother. "I am going to put you both in time out on opposite sides of the house."

 _"Like you could ever really punish me.."_ The demon on the line teased lightly _. "The reason I called you. Remember that file you found from the restricted fates paper record entry of the Kyubbi but thought it wasn't helpful?"_

"Yes..."

 _"I cross-referenced it with the online database I hacked into and found something. The reason it didn't make sense was because it was only a part of it. The file did not include the full text. It's not really an event that had passed per say, we were looking in the wrong area. It's a prophecy foretold by several clairvoyants, and there's a list of the people who have had the similar prophetic vision. It seems that the prophecy is missing from the online records so all I could get were names and dates."_ It was hard not to hear the slight glee in his husband's voice at his discovery.

"Who are they?"

 _"It's only three people but the record seems to have them all having visions recorded pertaining to this Kyuubi. Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, Senju Mito, Uzumaki Kushina..."_

Itachi froze for a moment, slightly thankful that he was still in the elevator. His mind connected the dots with what Minato had told him when Naruto had first come to hell, how all of this was coming into play. All of a sudden he understood why it was more than a coincidence that he was summoned by the half breed in the first place, and perhaps the real reason why Kushina was silenced.

"Wait, as in Naruto's mother?"

 _"I'm almost certain. Only way to be sure is to see her file, which is kept in records on the mortal plane with the High Witch of New York since she wasn't a demon. If the dates of her visions match up with the dates connected to the Kyuubi prophecy then maybe we have a lead as to exactly what those visions were and we can better prepare a way to counter the Order."_

"Right. Are you also getting the hunch that this may have something to do with the visions pertaining to Minato's son as well?"

 _"I was hoping it was just me…"_

"I need to call Gaara. I'll be home in twenty minutes." Pride hung up abruptly as the elevator doors opened. His mind was whirring around the possibilities. Could this be why Naruto's mother never wanted her son to know anything about his demonic half? Was it because he was connected to finding what the Order was after? It could have just been one of many visions she had, completely unrelated to Naruto's danger in hell. The demon frowned, his gut telling him that was not the case. He reached his car and slammed the door shut, dialing Gaara's number as he peeled out of his parking spot.

 _"Yes."_

"Where is Naruto?" Itachi asked with a little more force than normal.

Wrath paused for a moment, obviously put off by the intensity of Itachi's voice. _"With me. What happened?"_

"I have to disclose something to you. Are you in a private place?"

There was a slight sound of shuffling and a door closing before the demon responded _, "Yes."_

Itachi made his way home, weaving through the light mid day traffic, "Naruto may be in some serious trouble. I believe certain members of the Order may soon come after him."

 _"What do you mean?"_

"It's complicated and there are a few pieces missing but I'm positive at least for now there are going to be some problems. I need to talk with Minato and Shisui to completely piece it together. Are you at home?"

 _"I am. What do you need me to do?"_ Gaara sounded slightly off as he waited for instructions from his commander.

"Just don't let him out of your sight for now. I'm going to need some help from your witch, she has some files we need."

 _"I'll contact her."_

"We can meet on the mortal plane in two hours, it's easier to talk there."

Wrath simply grunted in affirmation before hanging up.

X-X-X-X

"Who was that?" Naruto looked up from his seated position on the training floor when Gaara walked back in.

"Itachi. We'll be meeting up with some people this evening." The demon took his place again on the floor cushion across the blond.

"You look worried." Blue eyes filled with concern as the redhead crossed his legs into a lotus position.

Gaara frowned slightly before shaking his head. "We may have some trouble soon, but for now let's focus on this." He lightly gestured to the bowl that sat between them.

Naruto sighed softly but closed his eyes once again in concentration. They sat in silence for a while as the demon studied the torn pieces of paper in the old ceramic dish. He was hoping Naruto would be able to pick this technique up without issue before heading into the fourth task. They had been working at it for a few weeks already to no avail.

"Nothing is happening again. Maybe I just don't have the ability to manipulate demonic energy like that?"The half breed peeked open one eye to watch his mentor.

"It's possible. Some half breeds never awaken that ability and if they do sometimes they don't have a specific affinity for energy types. However, you are a direct descendant of a cardinal sin. The chance of that is highly unlikely." Gaara watched the half mortal furrow his brow with that response.

"Then what am I doing wrong?"

"You may be overthinking it a bit. You already have a basis down so it's not that you aren't able to manipulate the energy. I think it's more of an issue with you connecting with the energy directly. This is similar to the incantations I taught you. The ones you use to open locks and create protective barriers. That's energy manipulation with words as a medium. With affinity and things of that sort, you skip the medium and connect straight to the demonic power source. Usually it will then manifest in a specific nature phenomenon that you are able to control and utilize for defense or offense." Wrath nodded to the bowl as the bits of paper flew around in a small whirlwind. "After you get the hang of one you can gain control over other affinities."

The redhead snapped his fingers and a large flame engulfed the paper shreds and turned them to ash.

"So if I can get incantations down then I should be able to get this down too."

"Logically, yes. But you also just might not be ready yet. It took me a while to get it down."

Naruto groaned, "How do I know if I'm ready? I can't wait a few centuries. The tasks will only get harder and having a weapon I can call on whenever I need would be really useful."

The demon shrugged, "There are some things you shouldn't rush."

The blond frowned and stayed silent at that piece of advice.

"You're probably subconsciously blocking the connection somehow, I'm not sure what's blocking you though. Maybe Shizune can help see what it is."

"Yeah? I'm down. I would also be nice to visit with….her again."

Gaara knew he wasn't referring to the witch with that statement. He stood and picked up the bowl to set it on its shelf. "Of course. I'd like to say hello to your mother again as well."

Naruto smiled brightly at his mentors response and jumped up to plant a kiss on his cheek before running upstairs to change clothes. Gaara shot off a text to Shizune, still smiling from the sweet contact of Naruto's lips on his face.

 **Gaara:** _Your assistance has been requested._

 **Witch:** You can ask for a favor without sounding like a robot you know. :(

 **Gaara:** _I'm not the one who's requesting it._

 **Witch:** I'm scared to ask…

 **Gaara:** _Don't fuck up._

 **Witch:** What the fuck kind of shit advice is that?!

Gaara chuckled to himself as he tossed the phone onto his bed and changed into a pair of old jeans and a long sleeved maroon shirt. A dance of light from the top of the dresser caught his eye, silvery iridescent colors taunting him. He grabbed it and sat at the edge of his bed once he was dressed for a moment, letting his head process just what Itachi could have meant. He frowned as his mind tried making connections in regards to the Order that would definitely put the halfbreed in danger. He had hoped the tasks would be the only life risking event for Naruto, but he knew their luck wouldn't run that far. The blond had proven himself so far, plenty enough to stand his own if need be. But the Order, they were something else entirely. If they came after him there was little Naruto could do to stop them on his own. Hell there was little Gaara could do short of demolishing both heaven and earth to stop the Order.

"Is everything ok?" Naruto was crouched down in front of Gaara, face full of concern.

The demon was so lost in his thoughts he didn't even notice when the halfbreed had walked in.

"No. Unfortunately there's been another problem thrown our way." The redhead sighed as he held his gaze into blue eyes.

"What happened?"

Wrath tugged Naruto up and pulled him into his lap. He unclasped the simple silver chain and gently hooked it behind the blonds neck. The figure in his lap quirked a brow in question and looked down to find the protection dragon scale hanging from the necklace.

"Oh, I had wondered where that went." a big smile flashed across his face as Gaara offered a fond smile.

"I had planned on giving it back to you just before the fourth task but due to certain circumstances, I think sooner is best."

Naruto's face fell at that comment. "What happened, Gaara?"

The demon lifted a hand to brush some stray hair that had fallen into Naruto's face as he spoke, " Itachi called earlier. He has a suspicion that the Order may target you for some reason."

"Me? What for? Of all the competitors I would figure they'd go after Sasuke or Hinata. They are way stronger than I am at this point."

"I don't think it has to do with the competition" Gaara admitted

Naruto seemed thrown off track by that. "Then what the hell would they want me for?"

Wraths hands trailed down to find defined hips, thumbs circling around the bone that protruded a bit. "Itachi and Shizune are going to help us figure that part out tonight. I need you to promise me that you will not leave my side from now on."

"Are these Order guys really all that bad?" a hint of unease filled the question.

"Naruto, they will easily tear apart anyone who gets in the way of accomplishing their twisted goals of order and balance."

The halfbreed shoulders slightly sagged as a worried expression found its way onto his face. Gaara watched him frown as he mulled over the demons response.

"Hey, I will do everything in my power to protect you. Your father, Shizune and Itachi won't let them get you so easily either. I need you to be aware and keep your guard up but don't feel like you're alone in this. You have lots of support."

"I know. It's not that. I just get so tired of having things thrown my way just when I've started to get used to the turn my life has taken, you'd think fate would get tired of fucking around with me." the blond stood back up.

"Well, I can't say that I blame it. You're just so fun to fuck."

Naruto snorted in amusement as he headed down the stairs and towards the elevator doors. "Then you might wanna tell it to back off, fucking me is your job now."

X-X-X-X

Gaara stood in front of Kushina's grave, listening to Naruto talk to her about his tasks so far and how he managed to make it through them in one piece. The halfbreed rambled on, Gaara chiming in only to correct him on how it actually happened, and yes that was a stupid thing to do. Naruto huffed and proceeded to tell the demon to shut up and let him finish telling the story.

Wrath rolled his eyes in mock annoyance before allowing Naruto to continue. He willed his vision to sharpen and the image of Kushina came into view. He watched her spirit as she hovered around her son, something wasn't right. She was frantic, fidgety and her spirit was blurry. Wrath blinked a few times and leaned back against her tombstone to observe how she fussed around her son obviously upset. Naruto looked back at the demon after a moment and paused mid story to ask why Gaara was staring.

"Something's not right. She seems upset."

"Wait, what?" Naruto looked around at the empty graveyard as if it would give him some form of clarity

"Your mother. She seems distraught. She won't stop pacing around you." the demon gestured to the spirit that was now standing right behind the blond.

Naruto shot the redhead a look as if he had just sprouted seven heads. "Wait, you mean you can see her?"

"Of course, I can see her. I'm a demon." Gaara sighed as if it should have been obvious.

"Where is she? Can she see me? Why can't I see her?"

"Calm down. She's right next to you, and yes she can see and hear us. Once you become a full demon you'll be able to see the spirits of the deceased too. Not that it's all that great, you'll be thankful you can tune them out when you want."

A large smile spread across the halfbreed face as he looked over to his side. "Holy shit, all this time I kind of just wondered if she was even listen- wait, she's upset? About what? Was it something I said?"

Gaara shook his head, she had seemed anxious not angry. "No that's not it."

The woman frowned deeply at the demon before touching the dragon scale that hung around her son's neck and disappeared.

"Won't she tell you what's wrong?" the blond asked.

"I can't communicate with them like that. Only witches and clairvoyants can, unless you've got an Ouija board hiding somewhere. She left anyway, we should probably do the same. Spirits talk, it might not be safe here." Gaara began walking toward the exit as the half breed whispered a quick goodbye and followed closely after his mentor.

Gaara was tense and firmly grabbed Naruto's hand as they walked through the city and onto the train. Being in the mortal realm was easier to talk, but also easier for someone to catch them off guard. The demon scanned the car as they sat on the filthy seats of the subway, waiting for their stop as an image of Naruto's mother played back in his mind. If she was distraught then some sort of news had rippled through the spirit world, Shizune would be able to tell them. He'd bring it up with Itachi too, just in case. Regardless, it only solidified the tension of Naruto being targeted.

The ride was silent, only the sound of the train on its tracks and the occasional cough or sniffle from the other occupants. Like they could sense the paranoia in the air, some unseen force advising them against making too much noise. He felt Naruto lean into his side, arms wrapping around his bicep and tanned cheek resting at his shoulder. He had seen the blond do that once before, many years ago during one of his first visits with Minato, an unsure child seeking comfort from his mother.

"You ok?" The demon whispered into the mass of golden hair at his side.

"My anxiety has decided now would be a good time to kick in" his voice was low and muffled, face pressed firmly into Gaara's arm.

"How can I help?" Wrath was now hyper aware of just how many people were on the train and how slow it seemed to be going and why were these cars so damn small in the first place?

The half breed squeezed his arm tighter, "Just don't leave me."

"Never" Gaara placed a firm hand on Naruto's thigh for reassurance. "The next stop is ours, it's close to Shizune's. Would you like to get to someplace private?"

A definite nod was felt and the next five minutes felt like an eternity before the train pulled into the station and the doors opened, releasing them from the narrow prison. Naruto clung to the demons side as he guided him up the stairs and down a block, familiar storefront greeting them with a flicker of the front lights against the darkening evening.

Shizune acknowledged them with a small wave and raised eyebrow at the sight of the halfbreed. Gaara requested someplace private and the witch quickly nodded and lead them upstairs without another word.

"Take as much time as you need, I'll make some tea whenever you're ready." the door shut behind her as she exited, leaving them alone in her small bedroom.

Gaara sat on the bed, arms still clutching tightly to him. He reached over and pulled the halfbreed into his lap, adjusting to an embrace as the blond still buried his face into the soft material of the demons clothing. Gently rubbing circles at Naruto's back, he worked to steady his breathing. "Its ok, Naruto. Breath with me."

A shaky breath was let out by Naruto, like it was being held so tightly his lungs would break. After what seemed like years the breath steadied and his hands no longer shook in the death grip they had on Wrath's shirt.

"I'm sorry", Naruto finally spoke after some time.

Gaara didn't move, arms still wrapped around the figure in his lap. His chin rested on the blonds head, he protectively gave a small squeeze as if he could draw Naruto into himself and protect him from the dangers life seemed to enjoy hurtling his way.

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault."

Naruto was silent again for a while longer, fingers absently tracing patterns along Gaara's form. "Thank you for staying with me."

"I promised I would." the demon pressed small kisses into the top of Naruto's head.

"Yeah, but still. Thanks for not breaking that promise."

Blue eyes looked up, still filled with uncertainty but strong in the resolve to not dart away when Gaara gazed back. Slowly the blond stood, clearing his throat and taking in a deep grounding breath. "I'm good now."

Gaara simply nodded and guided the blond out into Shizune's kitchen. She had some light music playing from an old record player at the table in her tiny living room, the familiar saxophone melody of Take Five drifting into the rest of the apartment. They sat at her small table as she set mugs of hot herbal tea before each of them and plopped herself down across from them.

"I'm assuming we are waiting for more guests?" she grabbed the deck of tarot cards from the middle of the table and began shuffling.

Wrath nodded as he took a sip of tea. He glanced over as Naruto seemed entranced by Shizune's shuffling skills.

"Naruto also has a question to ask you."

The blond gave a small jump at the sound of his name, azure eyes turned to face the demon questioningly.

"He's having some trouble with energy manipulation." the demon stated and Naruto remembered the other reason for coming to see Shizune.

"Oh, yeah. I can't do it for some reason. Every time I try I just feel… stuck?"

The witch paused mid shuffle, considering the information for a moment. She then held the deck out for Naruto and motioned for him to take it.

"Give it a shuffle and focus on the feeling you have when you try to manipulate energy directly."

Gaara watched the halfbreed cautiously take the deck and messily re arrange the cards. His brow furrowed as he concentrated while he shuffled. Three cards fell out onto the table and Naruto paused to pick them up.

Shizune hand shot out to stop him. "No, leave them. Keep shuffling"

Naruto continued as instructed until one more card fell and the witch told him to stop. She grabbed the deck back and turned the cards over to reveal what they were. She frowned and threw a pointed glance at the demon before sitting back in her chair.

"We aren't mind readers. Care to share with the rest of the class?" Gaara bit out and returned her glare.

"It's not anything that I didn't already know, I'm just disappointed these cards weren't more helpful." She grumbled before turning the images around so the halfbreed and demon could get a better look.

"What does it mean?" Naruto stared at them, absolutely lost.

Again the witch looked over at the demon, this time it was softer. "It means you've been through a lot kid. You have some hindrances that are causing you trouble."

The demon could tell from the tone of her voice she was giving a half truth. There was much more to it.

"Huh?" Naruto was obviously still confused.

"Be honest with him Shizune. He deserves to hear the truth." Gaara stared at her until she caved, waving at him to stop.

"Fine. Naruto, these are very harsh cards. They all mean struggle, conflict and heavy burdens of some sort. The nine of swords signifies anxiety and distress, ten of swords means hopelessness, destruction or being pinned down by a multitude of difficulty. The first card is a reflection of you, the second is your past."

Naruto stiffened a bit, Gaara slid his hand under the table to rest on a denim glad thigh. A small anchor for the unrelenting truth that he was sure Naruto was already aware of.

"The third and fourth card are your present and future, respectively. The devil is a card of bondage. I'm pretty damn sure that this is why you are having a hard time with your energy manipulation. There's something blocking you from achieving it, but the only person who can confront that and free you, is yourself. The tower is a tough one. It's change, to put it nicely. Lots of change through turmoil." She sighed again and took a sip from her own mug as she watched the blond mull over his reading.

"Will it be a good change?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

Shizune shrugged, "That's up to you."

"I agree with you, that wasn't very helpful." Naruto admitted as he intertwined his fingers with Wraths, resting their hands in his lap.

Gaara knew Shizune pretended not to notice as she picked up the cards and shuffled them again. He frowned as she held them out to him.

"No." He pushed them back to her with his free hand.

"You never let me read your cards anymore. Where's your sense of curiosity?"

He rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Oh that's right, it died right along with your sense of humor. C'mon, take that stick out of your ass and amuse me. Just this once." The witch pouted and held her hand out once more.

Naruto smiled at that last comment, trying to hide it as he sipped his tea.

"Why do you care so much about my cards?" The demon groaned.

"Would you just shuffle and pick already."

Begrudgingly Gaara grabbed them and neatly gave it a few shuffles before Shizune grabbed it back hastily and spread them out in a row before him.

"Pick two."

The demon sighed and pulled out random cards, holding the stiff material between his fingers. The witch nearly ripped them from his hand and threw it face up on the table staring at it in total concentration. Gaara grumbled at her impatience, but was interrupted as Shizune burst out into a fit of laughter. He turned to Naruto and sighed.

"This is why I never let her read my cards."

They both watched as she wiped tears from the corner of her eyes, pausing in her laughter to toss the cards down in front of them for the demon to see. Wrath stared back at two cards he knew well, they were present the last time Shizune had did a reading for him centuries ago. She had laughed then too.

"You still haven't changed, Ichibi. When you fall, you fall hard." She spoke through giggles.

"Fuck you." He tossed the cards back to her as embarrassment colored his cheeks.

"What did he get?" Naruto looked over at the woman across from him.

"Don't you dare tell him." The demon stopped her before she even began to explain.

Shizune gave an apologetic smile to the demon that turned into an evil grin in record time. Just as she opened her mouth to speak the buzzer rang, notifying them that there was someone at her shop door.

"Oh, the rest of the party is here." She jumped up and scurried downstairs, in a rush to escape the murderous glare Gaara had set on her.

That witch was a pain in the ass most days.

X-X-X-X

Itachi was greeted by a familiar woman at the door to the old store front.

"Lord Pride, it's been a while." She ushered him in with a polite smile before taking notice of who trailed behind.

"Brat, it hasn't been long enough." She smirked as Sasuke followed his elder brother into the building.

"Hn." Was all the shorter figure responded.

They were led upstairs and into a kitchen where Gaara and Naruto were arguing about something in hushed tones. Wrath held two cards of some sort out of the blond's reach but quickly pocketed them when he noticed other people had arrived. Itachi curiously arched a brow only to be met with a look that could kill from the red head. Pride let a small smirk play on his lips as he took a seat at the table.

"Sasuke?" Naruto smiled despite his obvious surprise to see the Uchiha there.

"Hey" The younger Uchiha greeted and occupied the chair next to the blond.

"So, to what do I owe this great pleasure my Lords?" The woman yawned out.

Itachi pulled out an index card from his pocket and set it on the surface for the witch to see. "There are some prophecies that I am having trouble looking up. I believe these may be related to some sort of plan the Order is running. Unfortunately I am led to believe they may require Naruto to fulfill their goal."

"Oh" She took the note from the table and read over the names.

"I assume Gaara explained that part to you Naruto?" Pride watched the half breed shift in his chair as he was addressed.

"Yeah"

Itachi noted he did a good job at hiding his unease. The half breed kept a straight face, looking more annoyed by the situation than anything else.

"Mito and Hagoromo… Those are fucking ancient. I don't have their files but I do have some books and scripts on their prophecies. They are going to be in the storage closet downstairs. Would you boys see if you can find them? They should be in one of the boxes." Shizune smiled at the two half breeds expectantly.

Sasuke sighed but obeyed and tugged the blond down the stairs, shooting the three in the kitchen a knowing glare over his shoulder as they descended the steps.

"Now, Uzumaki I do have." The witch commented once the half breeds were out of earshot. Shizune tittered into her living room and opened a large filing cabinet that was nudged into the corner by a messy desk. She began searching through the labels for the right information, Itachi watched her fingers dance over the file folders as she muttered to herself. "Uzumaki, Uzumaki... Ah! Here she is. She had visions as well as automatic writing so there's quite a bit."

A massive file was pulled out and dropped on the table before them with a heavy thud. The faded brown folder was worn with time and weight, Itachi pulled it to him and opened it. The first page was a profile, basic information on the clairvoyant in question. Name, date of birth, address of residence listed below a picture of a beautiful woman with flaming hair. Notes and other descriptions on her skill sets and life were added in pen, scribbles and post-its adorning just about every available space allowed. The tabs organized the file by years and pages filled with writing were stuffed in between each one, a chaotic disarray. Both demons blinked at each other for a second and Gaara's fingers twitched momentarily before he turned back to the witch and began reprimanding her for not having more organized files.

Pride brought his attention back to the documents while the other two bickered, scanning for the year Shisui had told him was the last account of a Kyubbi prophecy. It was difficult to make out some of the handwritten scrawl, but so far nothing about a Kyubbi was popping up as he flipped through the chaos of paperwork. The demon was already beginning to figure out what to do should they have to go back to square one when a bright orange sticky note caught his eye. Large script " _Key to Kyubbi? Naruto?"_ written across it was clear as day and the demon frowned knowing he would not like what he was about to read. The page it was attached to was coffee stained and worn, like it had been folded and re-folded multiple times. A dozen colorful notes were attached to the worn paper and the margins were filled with writing in multiple colored inks, like someone kept coming back to it over and over, trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces.

The demons eyes read the page and then re-read it again. He looked over at Wrath who had ceased his argument with the woman and was now watching him intently. Itachi passed the prophecy over to him and remained silent as Gaara read it out loud.

 _"The time will come to pass, the dawning of sanctification,_

 _Behold the key, Born of a prophet and ire of hell itself,_

 _He paves the way for the end to come,_

 _The Kyubbi unleashed shall dispel the realms of man and those beyond,_

 _Evil incarnate cowers in its destruction._

 _Woe to the gatekeeper who stands in its way,_

 _Woe to the key, son of justice,_

 _He shall be devoured by the beast,_

 _His destruction shall show no mercy,_

 _Salvation will turn its head._

 _Hell shall break the seal,_

 _Heaven shall hear his agony,_

 _Earth shall be wiped of all impurity,_

 _Chaotic redemption by the hand of vile means,_

 _The Kyubbi reborn shall slaughter the divine authority._

 _Angels shall fall,_

 _Demons shall revolt,_

 _Mortals shall bend the knee,_

 _Hail to the host, Hail to the key,_

 _Son of utmost depravity._ "

They sat in silence for a long moment, nobody willing to speak. Itachi shut his eyes as Gaara scowled at the document in hand. This was why Kushina had tried to keep Naruto from anything related to hell, she had figured it out. She was trying to prevent her prophecy from coming true, prevent her son from becoming the key. Shizune finally spoke, gaining understanding of the situation.

"Son of a prophet and ire of hell…. Naruto is the key to this Kuybbi then." She absently drummed her fingers on the table as she spoke.

"This is why she had tried to keep him from anything hell related." Itachi responded, "She was trying to prevent the seal from breaking."

"Has it broken yet?" Gaara still had an ominous look lingering on his face.

Shizune shook her head, "I don't think so, but there's been some talk in the spirit world. Everyone is antsy. All they say when I try to ask them is that, 'It's almost time'. Could they be referring to the seal?"

"Possibly. It would make sense. We went to visit Kushina's grave earlier today, she was frantic. It could be that they sense it's impending." Wrath noted.

"So then what's the main goal? Why try to control this destructive power? They want to wipe out humanity?" Shizune had pulled out a cigarette from her pocket and offered the box to the other two figures at the table.

Pride declined but watched as Gaara took one for himself, lighting both of them with a snap of his fingers. "It seems that way. I take it they feel that humanity has become too corrupt so they wish to use the Kyubbi to purge it."

"Sounds like something the Order would try." Smoke spilled from Wrath's lips as he agreed.

"Why didn't they just take Naruto before then? I understand now they can't because he's protected by the reapers law and all that tournament crap, but before, he was just a normal kid." The witch gestured as she spoke.

"I don't know." Gaara sighed and flicked the ash into a small ceramic bowl on the table.

Itachi began reading the small notations Kushina had made on the paper, most of them were trying to connect the dots between the key and her son. A few were strategies of how to best keep him safe and prevent the inevitable, nothing of great assistance was found. He continued to flip through the rest of her file, skimming over the all of her prophecies in hopes of finding anything else related. The last few entries were interesting, more dated like a journal than random bits of spastic writing like the majority of the file was. He read as she had noted multiple dates, with weeks in between. Soon they became days apart until it was consecutive. His eyes darted to the last entry at the bottom of the page.

 _"The same vision every day, won't leave me alone. It's a warning, must protect Naruto. Nothing I do changes its outcome, they will come for me, for him. I have no time. I can't warn Minato, they will be watching him too. Please forgive me, Naruto you deserve better."_

"What happened to Kushina? Do you remember the last time you saw her?" Itachi interrupted whatever Shizune had begun saying.

"Hmm… It was the day before she was murdered I believe. She seemed tired, like she hadn't slept well but aside from that everything was normal. She brought me the last pages of her file, bought some things from my shop and left. Nothing seemed out of place."

"What did she buy?" Pride's eyes narrowed. Kushina had known she was going to die, he was certain of it.

Shizune tapped her fingers on her chin as she thought for a second. "It was a fugitive charm and a location glamour if I remember correctly."

The sound of footsteps on the stairs jolted them from their train of thought. The half breeds approached carrying small stacks of books and scrolls with them. They dropped them down on the table as Sasuke grumbled about the state of that closet. Itachi stood and wandered over into the cluttered desk in the next room, ignoring the confused looks from his younger brother. He flipped through the stacks of papers and files until he found what he was looking for, rolled up in a corner. He rolled it out, laying it on the table where the others sat. Sasuke hastily removed the stacks of books to make space as Gaara and Shizune shot each other looks of curiosity.

"What are you doing?" The witch finally spoke when he began to rummage through the trinkets on her windowsill altar.

He handed her a box from the window and gestured to the map. "Can you perform a locating spell?"

"Locating spell? Sure, but what does that have to do with anything?" The witch opened the box and took out the glass marbles.

"You think it's still active." Gaara had the same idea as Pride.

"I do. That's why I was summoned, they couldn't locate him to bring him to hell so they had to figure out another way. It had to be someone who wasn't looking for him." Itachi mused.

Wrath nodded, as he ground out his cigarette in the ashtray "Clever. They must have figured out a way to manipulate the energy so he would create your sigil."

Shizune slowly raised her hand as if she was waiting for permission to ask the teacher a question. Gaara merely raised a brow at her. "Can you please explain to the rest of us dimwits what you're going on about?"

"Itachi thinks that the whole reason Naruto ended up in hell was because of the Order." Sasuke huffed out. "It was all planned from the start. Your hunch was right."

"Huh?" The blonde blurted out and furrowed his brow.

"Shizune if you would, try a locating spell to find Naruto." The dark haired demon ushered her closer to the map on the table.

The witch spared a glance at Gaara who nodded in approval. She shrugged and placed the round glass objects on the map of the city, concentrating hard as they slowly began rolling in a circular pattern. Pride watched her close her eyes and extend her hand above the map, the sound of glass against the table intensified as all four pairs of eyes observed the witch expectantly.

"Inveniō", perfect red painted lips muttered.

The marbles continued to circle the map, never ceasing their movement.

"What the fuck?" Shizune opened her eyes and stared at the table. "Inveniō" She tried again with the same results.

Itachi hummed with interest as the witch argued with her seeking orbs.

"Inveniō, you little shits. He's sitting right there!" The woman grumbled as they continued their circling path, mocking her lightly.

"So she placed the the glamour on him, how much you want to bet she placed the charm on him as well?" Gaara scoffed.

Itachi looked over at the blond who was watching Shizune with amusement although still seemed like he was not fully comprehending what had just happened. "That's probably why he was moved around so much as a child. Fugitive charms displace you in the event that those looking for you have found you. They were never able to get their hands on him so they had to find another way."

"Alright, but what are we going to do now? We can't just ignore this and hope they go away."

Gaara was right, they needed a plan of action. "Take a look at the older prophecies. Let's see if we can find anything different. If they plan on bringing this dormant evil to purge humans then they will need to somehow transport it to the mortal realm. That's going to take a lot of energy. If we can figure out how they are planning on doing it then maybe we can find a way to stop them."

Wrath and Shizune became eerily quiet as the stared straight at each other, unblinking.

Shizune spoke first, "You don't think?"

"It makes sense. Why else move it all the way to a secluded location?" Gaara all but jumped from his chair.

"The ley line would be more than enough energy.." The witch continued.

"Fuck, why didn't we see it before? They have been planning all this for years." Wrath curled his hands into fists.

"Ok, I'm sorry but I'm super lost. What is happening? Did I miss something?" Naruto finally spoke up, voice slightly upset at the fact that he was unable to keep up.

All eyes hesitated momentarily before settling on Gaara. The demon frowned and began explaining what they had found to the blond.

"Naruto, it seems that the reason the Order is after you is because you are the key to an ancient demon called Kyubbi. Your mother had a vision about it and tried to protect you." He pulled out the prophecy from the folder and handed it over to the blond. "You being in hell will release this seal, that was why Kushina was so adamant about you knowing nothing of your demon half. She also placed a charm and glamour on you so they wouldn't find you. It may be the reason you were moved around a lot after her passing. The charm was keeping you safe from them."

"We also believe that the whole reason you summoned me was the Order's doing as well. It was the only way they could get you to hell to break the seal." Pride added in.

"Also they will be using the portal as a means of transporting the Kyubbi to the mortal realm. Last year Gaara and I found out it's seated on a strong ley line and in a secluded enough area that they could get it in without much noise." Shizune grabbed the map from the table and began to roll it up.

Itachi watched as Naruto was now quiet, considering everything that had been told to him. It wasn't fair, but life rarely ever was. Hopefully with this information they would be able to get a few steps ahead and prevent anything from taking place. With any luck they could take the Order down quietly, but that was a long shot. They wouldn't back down without a fight.

"What do you need me to do?" The half breed finally spoke, determination set in his face.

"Well we are betting on the fact that they can't get you now due to the tournament and they still need you to break the seal, so they will most likely be watching and waiting until it is over or the seal is broken. For now we plan and keep our eyes open. You still have tasks to get through." Pride began to pick up books and pass them out. "We also need to check these old prophecies for anything relating to the Kyubbi."

There was a slight collective groan from the half breeds and the witch as they accepted the scrolls and leather bound texts from the demon to search through. Itachi shared a knowing glance with Gaara, it was going to be a long night.


	12. Chapter 12

Author Note: Hello! Sorry it's been a while, I also post on AO3 and have much more notes and insight on the story so feel free to check that out if you'd like. Heres another chapter and thank you for sticking with me for so long! Enjoy!

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Naruto had been wandering around in circles for the past half hour. He knew this because there was that part of his sleeve again. The thorns in the hedge had ripped it off thirty minutes ago, it must have been the fifth time he passed it. The torn fabric swayed in the breeze taunting him silently, no matter how many turns he took he kept ending up right back to the same place, more aggravated by the minute.

"Labyrinth of mysteries my ass, more like maze of annoyance and fuckery." He adjusted the gas mask over his face and grumbled his aggravation. "I hope you're giving the others this hard of a time too, ya damn hedge."

He paused and stared up at the sky hoping the answer to passing this trial would magically fall from it, but he knew better by now than to rely on wishful thinking and miracles. This test had no time limit according to Lord Lust, but Naruto knew time was a big factor in how they were being scored. He had to be smart about it, had to use his head for this one. Strategy and critical thinking were the keys to making it out of this trial alive, his weakest points. No pressure. He could do this, he made it this far and he'd be damned if a stupid maze gets the best of him. He looked around again, eyes scanning for some sort of clue. They had been provided with gas masks so he thought it was safe to assume something in the air was deadly, most likely the flora pollen. So far he had been able to not make contact with any of the plants aside form the accidental scrap of his shirt the brush claimed for itself, but he refused to test out if touching the brush with a bare hand would also prove to be fatal. He took a calming breath. He had to remain level headed and look for a solution, for a way out. He turned and tried heading back how he came, taking different turns, or going straight instead of turning, much to his displeasure he found himself right back where he started. The ominous bit of material waving like a flag from the thorn between the foliage and roses. The blond felt his eye twitch slightly before simply pouting and plopping himself to the ground.

"Alright, you seem to want me here no matter how much I try to get out of the maze. I'm tired of walking around in circles, so let's have at it, or whatever." He groaned staring at the wall as realization of what he was doing hit him.

"I'm talking to a plant. Great, I have officially lost it."

The mask was hard to breath through and getting worked up was giving him a lightheaded daze. This was getting slightly more dangerous as passing out here was probably not a good idea. Time for plan B. It really wasn't all that great of a plan to be honest, but it was all he could manage to think of at the moment. He gathered himself up to stand and begun kicking at the hedge, hoping to barrage through the walls instead of wander aimlessly around them. He pulled his foot back and charged at the plant with his heel, the contact spreading a thick mist of pollen from the flowers in question.

"Oops…" Naruto looked around and realized he seemed to have caused a chain reaction, the haze was growing as just about every single flower in the labyrinth began releasing its pollen into the air.

The blond quickly tightened the straps on his mask unsure if there was anywhere he could go now to escape what he was betting was a poisonous defense mechanism from the roses. Well fuck. He stumbled about for a moment unsure of what would come next until a voice called out to him sounding far away. Naruto froze, straining his hearing for that sound again. A shadow moved amidst the hazy air out of the corner of his eye. The half breed immediately gave chase hoping that it wasn't something else what wanted to eat his face off like in the previous trials.

"Hey, wait up!"

The path was hard to see with the dense violet fog that was overtaking everything. Naruto slowed his pace once he lost sight of whatever it was he had tried to chase. The ground felt different now under his feet, his heels made solid clacking noises instead of soft foot falls, no longer a soft path but hard almost like cement. He bent down to get a closer look and sure enough the dirt was gone and replaced by a rough cobblestone path. The blond hesitated before finally continuing forward, slightly comforted that at least he was no longer going in circles, that is until he almost smacked his face straight into the unseen door blocking his way.

"What the everloving fuck?"

He backed up and eyed the massive wooden doorway before him. How the hell did that get here? Naruto inspected the handles and gave an eager push, only to find it was locked. It needed a key and he was, of course, keyless. He rested his hands on the lock and muttered the demonic incantation to no avail. The door stayed sealed shut.

"C'mon, please let me through." The halfbreed banged on the wooden surface, desperate to be free of the consuming poisonous smog that swirled around him. There was no answer. He rested his forehead against the door as he tried to pull together his next plan of action. Was there somewhere he could have missed a key? No way, he went around in circles, he would have noticed it. Maybe there was a password or he could pick the lock? He jammed his pocket knife into the keyhole and gently wiggled it about while he muttered the incantation over and over again in futile attempts.

" _There is only one key that will open the door to your higher self. Only one key to transcendence."_

The hair on the back of Naruto's neck stood on end as a voice rang out from beyond. He glanced around, knife in hand, still unable to see much. "Who are you?"

" _I have many names."_

The halfbreed paused before asking another question, "Are you the one who lead me here when the poison spread?"

" _I am."_

Naruto blinked slightly, hope rising at that response. Maybe he was close to figuring out how to finish the trial. "Ok, so how do I open the door?"

" _Aquire the key."_

"Where is the key?"

" _You must find it."_

"No shit…" Naruto deadpanned, this was going nowhere. "How do I find it?"

" _You must be willing to prove your worth."_

"How do I do that?" the blond was beginning to lose his patience.

" _Call upon me, invoke my presence."_

"Alright then, let me rephrase my original question." He tried again to find a new angle. "What are you?"

" _The key."_

The halfbreed jumped, this entire time and this jerk could have just said that at the beginning, "How do I find you?"

" _You must be willing to prove your worth."_

"Right…. And how would you like for me to do that?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

" _Call upon me. Invoke my presence."_

"Ugh" Naruto slumped forward. "What exactly is your name?"

" _I have many names."_

"Ohhh my god... yes, you said that already. Does everything have to go in circles around here? No wait, don't answer that." Naruto sat on the ground and sighed in frustration. "Can you at least give me a hint as to what one of your names is?"

" _They try to beat me, they try in vain._

 _And when I win, I end the pain."_

"A riddle? Shit, I'm not good at riddles." He thought for a moment, trying to analyze the first line, "Something you try to beat or fight but aren't able to win?"

The second line was just as cryptic, "What ends the pain when you lose a fight you can't win?"

Naruto sat there mumbling to himself for a solid twenty minutes before it finally clicked. "Death! One of your names is death!" He proudly announced to the doorway.

" _Indeed."_

"Yes!" the blond fist pumped the air as he jumped up from his seated position, the rapid movement making him slightly sway on his feet dizzly as he stumbled over to the push at the wooden door.

"Hey, what gives? I figured out the riddle." Naruto knocked again in irritation.

" _You must be willing to prove your worth to enter transcendance."_

If there wasn't a gas mask in the way he would have facepalmed in aggravation at the voice's response. "I just figured out the riddle. I called out your name."

" _Invoke my presence."_

"How the hell do I invoke you? You want a ritual or something? I don't know if you noticed but I didn't exactly bring any candles and I'm fresh out of virgin sacrifices."

" _I am the guide into what lies beyond, I come for those who seek transcendence, I come for all in the end."_

"Not more cryptic answers," Naruto groaned and leaned up against the door. The halfbreed tried to piece together all that he had been told. So far the only way out of this place was through here, this door to transcendence as the voice had put it. "What exactly is waiting for me over there?"

" _Truth of your higher self."_

He hesitated, "How do I know I can trust you?"

" _To obtain your higher self you must seek the truth. Truth always comes at a cost. You must be willing."_

"That's not even the least bit helpful." He grumbled to himself, "I guess it's not like I've got much else of a choice though."

Ok, so he had to go through the door and find some sort of truth. The only way past it was to unlock the door, and death was the key. So something had to die? That didn't sound right, except it kind of did. Naruto felt his heart begin to accelerate as his panic became apparent. This has to be some trick. He frantically searched the surrounding area but there was nothing else around for him to kill, no incantations carved into the wood, no shrine to make an offering. How else could he invoke death aside from dying himself? He turned back to find the stone path that lead back to the maze, still thick with the dense haze. He might be able to get back through but if he was unable to successfully navigate when he could see what was in front of his face before, the fog would make it impossible to find his way now. There was no other obvious solution to his current problem.

"You can't seriously mean for me to die, right? If I do that won't I be dropped from the tournament?"

" _You must be willing to prove your worth."_

"Can't you at least give me a fighting chance? I'll battle another monster or something." He was pleading now, anything to avoid having to do what was being asked of him.

" _Try to beat me, Try in vain._

 _And when I win, I end the pain."_

"Look, I know it's a fight I can't win, but it feels so wrong." Tears welled in his eyes, his mom must be rolling in her grave. He didn't want to do this. It had to be a trick.

" _You must be willing to lose the very thing you cling to in order to advance. If you are not willing, you can no longer progress. Without attaining your higher self you will be ill prepared for what is to come."_

"Well what if I don't want to die? You can't ask someone to die just like that."

" _Transcendence only come to those able to release that which no longer serves them. You must willingly sacrifice it. If you do not wish to seek the truth then this is where your journey ends."_

There was absolute silence for a moment. Naruto had his eyes shut, battling with his own self and reason silently. Nothing dared to break the quiet for a long time until the sound of fingers fidgeting with straps of a gas mask filled the space. His fingers felt so heavy as they tugged the mask loose, everything moved in slow motion. Fucking insanity, that's what it was. Naruto had damn near lost his mind. He was being asked to die and nothing was making sense, but the one thing he knew was that he refused to let everything he had worked for stop here. With each millisecond of movement his mind was screaming against every fiber of his being. He still had people to protect, still had things he needed to say, still had time he wanted to make up for. But he couldn't protect anyone if he didn't get stronger, couldn't say those things if he didn't build up the courage, couldn't achieve that time if he didn't push forward. If he ended his journey here, he would never be able to move forward. Amidst all the riddles, only one thing was clear, he couldn't move on if he didn't do this.

" _Do you wish to reject your higher self?"_

"I-" Naruto faltered a moment.

" _Is this the furthest you have chosen to go?"_

"No. I.. I don't want to give up."

" _Then you have decided to move on with this trial?"_

"If it's the only way." He tugged the object from his face and took a deep inhale, lightly choking as the violet pollen entered his airway.

" _Release that which you cling to."_ The voice seemed to fade off into the background, like a soft static.

"Gaara…" The name was a brief whisper left unfinished as his body crashed to the floor and darkness was all Naruto knew.

XX_XX

There was a ringing sound somewhere in the distance, it got decidedly louder with each passing moment. Fingers splayed out to feel but there was no ground beneath, nothing to touch. Suspended in an empty space the blonde slowly opened his eyes, assaulting his sense with a blinding light.

" _Enter and experience transcendance."_

Naruto jumped at the voice and blinked violently until his vision adjusted. The doorway before him was now open, spilling a thousand golden rays through its portal. He took a tentative step forward before realizing he wasn't touching the ground, merely hovering above it. His blue eyes quickly whipped around to find his lifeless body splayed on the ground below him. Well, fuck.

"What's going to happen to me?" He spoke in a slightly trembling voice.

" _Enter and experience transcendance."_

He sighed lightly, "Right, I forgot you don't give straight answers."

Hesitantly he exhaled and crossed the threshold, finding himself outside of a run down, grim looking abandoned house. There was a bad feeling stirring in his gut, this was not exactly what he was expecting. To be honest he wasn't really sure what to expect but it sure as hell was not a shady ass, possible traphouse, straight out of a horror movie in the middle of the night. Of course, as he turned around to survey the area he was completely alone. The portal he had just walked through was gone and there wasn't anything else in sight for miles. He grumbled to himself, annoyance shoving down some of the fear that tried to seize at his chest.

"Just one lousy break, just one! Is that really too much to ask?" The wooden steps up to the front door creaked and groaned under his weight as the halfbreed climbed up and entered the dark building.

Naruto grimaced as he took in the dirty state of the room. Cobwebs hung from every corner of the ceiling and a heavy layer of dust covered every surface possible. The blond lightly waved his hands around his face to deter the amount of foreign particles attempting to assault his nose and eyes. A glance to the left showed a undesirable living area complete with a bashed in television, incredibly tattered and heavily stained sofa, and coffee table that had cracked in half. It contained a daunting familiarity to it. He passed through the room to the dining area that looked just as hollow as the house felt. The chairs were all mismatched and lopsided, he was sure that they would fall apart if he so much as breathed on them. Each place setting contained delicate plates and cups that looked like they had been smashed against a wall and then hastily put back together again, the golden print jumbled together as it no longer followed a consistent pattern. Shaking hands picked up a teacup, fingers running along the jagged surface slowly inspecting it. He had seen this china set before, he was sure of it. The cup was set back down after a few minutes, unable to place where he had recognized the item from.

He wandered over to the stairwell only to find that there were no steps, just darkness. After a few tentative steps back the blonde shook off the slight shiver and found the most horrid kitchen he had ever set foot in instead. A rusty stove, that probably haven't worked in a millenia greeted him along with broken cabinets clinging to the wall by a single nail and a prayer. A pile of broken, roach covered dirty dishes in a sink that had probably never been used caused him to grimace. There were holes like someone had angrily punched through the sheetrock multiple times and various knives violently driven into the opposing wall. Naruto pulled a familiar black handle from where it was wedged into the plaster and studied the dirty blade. Who the hell lived here in this mess? Why did everything seem like he had seen it before?

The faint sound of clanking metal chains pulled him from his thoughts. He kept the knife in his hand for protection and approached the door next to the rundown refrigerator, lightly pressing his ear against it. He heard it again, it was coming from there. He quietly turned the knob and peered into the darkness. His eyes adjusted and he saw a descending staircase into what must be a basement. Knowledge from every single horror film he had ever seen, was telling him to turn around and leave the house right now, fuck the trial, and fuck whatever was down there.

Of course, he ignored it and and silently made his way into the musty area. Pale moonlight filtered in through the small grime covered windows casting shadows across the cement floor. A small jail cell took up a majority of the space but Naruto still could not make out whatever laid in the darkness behind the bars.

"Hello?" The blonde tried to keep his voice steady as he called out.

A low rumbling resonated through the prison like cell. "Has a little thing like you come to try and claim my power?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side at the question, "Claim?"

"I assure you, my power alone will eat your frail form alive." The clanking of chains could be heard from past the shadows as the voice spoke.

"I don't really understand. Why are you here? This is supposed to be some transcendance shit or something." Naruto stepped up to the metal bars and squinted his eyes, trying to see what he was speaking to. When he could not see anything he lightly banged his head against them in frustration.

"Transcendance? Oh, you're the host. I see." Red glowing eyes stared at him from within the cage. "I'm afraid you are without a true higher self, being my host is your endgame."

The halfbreed simply blinked, dumbfounded. This experience was all a little too much for him to understand at once. "What?"

"To put it simply, you are my cage for this reincarnation. That is your life purpose. There is nothing higher for you than that. You are finally here so that means it must be time to rid myself of this prison and fulfill my destiny."

"You're- You're the Kyuubi, aren't you…"

"You know what I am so you must know why you are here then." Chains rattled again as the figure in the shadows began to take some sort of corporal shape.

"Um.. I think I have a general idea of what you want." Naruto tapped the knife in his hand against the cage.

A shadow image of himself stepped out of the darkness, burning eyes glaring at blue. It slowly moved until it was merely inches from the blonde. "Release me."

"You know that there are some really bad guys that want to try and use your power for really bad things, right?"

The demon was unmoved by the statement, "So is the natural order of things. So is the prophecy that is foretold. I am born of chaos, it is my very nature."

Naruto by all right should have been panicking, freaking out that he was finally face to face with this thing his mother had been protecting him from but all he felt was exhaustion and pity. This wasn't some scary demon, this was just another part of himself. This dark force he was the key to was only a pawn, just like he was. They were the same in that aspect, only seen as chaos and destruction. Never anything more.

"Don't you ever get tired?" He slumped against the metal, turning his back on the demon.

There was an abrupt silence, like the monster was not sure how to respond.

"Tired?"

"Yeah, you know. Tired of always being taken advantage of and used by other people, tired of having to live up to this predestined bullshit, tired of always having these choices made for you instead of making your own?"

"I-... One cannot outrun their destiny." The response was slightly flustered.

"Sure, I mean you never will if you don't even try in the first place. But don't you ever just want to prove someone wrong for once?"

"Well, I suppose…." The shadow figure seemed to be contemplating for a moment before trying to dismiss the idea. "It is pointless to attempt to change what has been foretold."

"Maybe, but when you've got someone who believes you can do better, be better, regardless of if you do or not, trying doesn't seem stupid. Growing up my mom was always pushing me, even after she died and all the shit I went through, she was the reason I kept on trying, the reason I kept on going. Lots of the foster families said I'd never graduate high school and amount to anything or have people who love or care about me and all that shit made me just try even harder to make them eat their words."

"And did you?" Naruto looked back to see the demon watching him intently, the figure seemed a little smaller.

A large smile broke out on his face. "Fuck yeah!" the blonde laughed out. "I graduated and got accepted into college, I lived with my awesome friends, had several jobs, nothing fancy but they paid enough to keep me going. Now I've found my dad and it's a little rocky but I know he cares and I've got some old friends and new one's like Sasuke who's a little cold at times but he's a good friend now and I even have someone who I sort of love and I think maybe he loves me too."

For a few moments all Naruto could hear was the sounds of his own breathing. He was about to turn around, unsure if the demon was still there.

"I- I don't know. I've never really had anyone believe I was capable of anything aside from destruction and chaos."

Naruto smiled softly to himself. "I'll believe in you then."

"What if I can't do it?"

The halfbreed finally stood with a new determination set in his mind. He turned around, slicing his hand to remove the blood seal keeping the now tiny child sized caged demon in chains.

"Even if it turns out that things go the way they are foretold, don't you think it's worth a chance to try and change it?"

XX_XX

"He's been gone too long."

"Gaara, his soul is simply not ready to return yet. Sasuke isn't back either. He will be fine, just give him some more time." Itachi lightly patted the redhead on the shoulder.

Wrath sighed, this was the midway point of the tournament. A literal death trial as Neji liked to call it. As nerve wracking as it was it was a mandatory part of it all. The contestants needed to experience a mortal death before they could move on to the next trial. If they could figure out that they needed to prove themselves by invoking death, a willing sacrifice in the name of obtaining a higher self, once they had achieved it a reaper would guide their souls back to their corporal body and they would be revived. Afterwards their mundane half would begin to fade drastically which in turn would prepare them for their next trials as they would continue to shed the last little bits of their human selves in preparation for becoming a full demon. It was all really just annoying to Gaara but nonetheless they needed to happen.

Of course, there was a slight chance that they couldn't return to their physical bodies and be lost in the realm that lies between, but Gaara was trying hard not to think about that right now. He looked over and saw that the Sloth candidate had been revived already. The halfbreed looked exhausted but grateful to be back. The Hyuga girl was next, followed by the Uchiha. One by one they all returned leaving Naruto as the last candidate to remain, well, dead. The demon approached the reaper that was standing by the half breed's side.

"Haku?"

"Have faith in him, Lord Wrath." a small delicate hand was placed over the blonde's heart as the dark haired figure smiled up.

Gaara nodded and sat opposite of the smaller demon, trying his best to remain patient. It wasn't that he didn't think Naruto could do it. It was more the fact that this was a perfect opportunity for the Order to swoop in and claim their target. The demon crossed his arms over his chest and watched Haku as the reaper stood unmoving over the Wrath candidate. Transcendence was an unpredictable thing. Not everyone's higher self was essentially pleasant or understanding. A higher self was simply a pure manifestation of a beings true potential, whether it was cooperative and helpful or not, no one could tell until you met it.

"It's time. Don't worry Gaara, his soul burns very brightly. It will be easy to bring him back." Haku commented before disappearing to the realm between to fetch Naruto's soul.

Wrath shut his eyes in mild relief. Another task done without much mishap, except now the anticipation that the Order will indeed make a move soon was all the more intense. None of them were sure when the seal would break but it could happen anytime and Gaara was almost certain that was all they were waiting for. His attention was diverted at the sounds of violent gasping from the half breed laying before him.

"What the fuck?!" The blond choked out after he shot up right into a sitting position.

Haku reappeared smiling, "Welcome back. You have officially completed the fourth trial."

Naruto looked confused as he inspected his hands and body, most likely for some assurance that he was really not dead anymore.

"It's freezing in here." Teeth chattered at the sentiment.

"Here," Gaara pulled off his jacket and draped it over broad shoulders before turning to the reaper who seemed to be watching them knowingly.

"A little sense of detachment, delusion, confusion and exhaustion are all normal. If he's not better by tomorrow let me know right away. I'll inform the rest that this trial is complete."

"Thank you for your help Haku." Wrath watched as the dark haired figure bowed and took his leave. He turned back to Naruto as the half breed pulled his arms through the jacket sleeves and pulled the hood over his head in an attempt to get warm.

"You were dead for a good while, we need to get warmth back into your body again." The demon massaged Naruto's calves and thighs, willing his circulation to return his body temperature back to normal.

There was a long silence as they sat there. Naruto's slight shivers and condensed breaths were the only sounds made for a long while. Gaara finally worked his way up to shaking hands.

"Are you ok?"

Naruto was staring off into space but snapped back to himself at the question. "I think so. Just really fucking cold."

"You'll feel better after a bath and some hot food. Do you think you can stand and walk?"

The blond nodded and got up from the table he had been sitting on. He wobbled a tad before getting his balance back and followed his mentor out of the arena.

"You sure you're feeling ok?" Gaara frowned as they entered back into his penthouse apartment. Naruto had been eerily quiet most of the way home, like he was lost in a daze.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm ok. Just…" Naruto faded out back into his contemplative trance staring out the large living room window.

"Naruto?"

"Huh?" The blond blinked back at the demon.

Wrath furrowed his brow slightly, "Let's get you some food."

He warmed up a quick soup and was at least pleased to see that Naruto's appetite wasn't lacking as the half breed scarfed down the meal. That was a good sign, hopefully the dissociation wore off soon. He place his hand on the paled forehead trying to gauge his temperature. "You still feel cold. You want a bath?"

"Yeah." The word managed to come out before Gaara noticed that his train of thought was lost again.

The demon gently guided him up to the bathroom, undressed him and got him into the large garden tub. The tap ran until full and color began to return to tan flesh. Naruto seemed to have a bit better focus now that he had warmed back up again. They stared at each other for a while both hesitant to say anything until the blond spoke up.

"I died right?"

"Yes." Gaara sat on the floor beside the bath, elbows hanging over the edge and head resting on one hand.

"Did everyone die?" Naruto looked away from the soft green gaze.

"They did."

"Why?"

None of this was previously explained to any of the candidates so naturally there were questions. Gaara inhaled briefly before responding, "Half breeds are only allowed to become full demons on a small handful of occasions. Becoming one of the seven figureheads is the most common case. In order to do that you have to willingly release your mortality, you have to experience a mortal death, otherwise you can't contain the power that gets passed on. If you were to proceed without that mortal death it will cause many possibly fatal complications during the transition ceremony. This is just the first step, the next few trials are going to strip any little parts of your mortal self that managed to survive transcendance. It's all meant to prepare you."

"Oh." There was a pause before Naruto spoke again, "I feel kinda funny, like something is different with me."

"How so?"

"I don't know. I can't really remember but I kinda made peace and I think I made a friend..."

There was the delusion Haku had mentioned. Gaara doubted Naruto would remember any of the explanation he just gave him about why he had to die. "How about we get you to bed?"

"Yeah, ok. I'm fucking tired."

He had managed to get him into bed amidst the fact that Naruto had begun muttering about something important that happened but he couldn't remember. "It's ok Naruto. I'm sure you'll remember tomorrow."

"No! It's super important. I have to tell you right now. Fuck, what was it?"

"Don't worry about it. You can tell me when you wake up and are feeling better." Gaara began to get up from the bed but the blond grabbed his arm to keep him from going any further.

"No, you don't understand! I have to tell you. When I died I realized something and I kept telling myself I had to tell you the second I got back. That's how important it is! I promised I'd tell you. I have to let you know!" Blue eyes looked up at him in panic and on the verge of tears.

Wrath stared at him for a moment amidst his mumbling about remembering whatever he wanted to say. Did Haku leave out hysteria as a possible side effect? Gaara didn't doubt it.

"Naruto, you need to get some rest an-"

"Hooooly fuck! How could I forget, that's so important! So very, very important. You have to know!" the blond was practically bawling with his realization, tears rapidly streaming down his face and soaking his shirt.

Wrath sighed, the last of his patience was being tested here, "Naruto…"

"I love you, Gaara!"

XX_XX

 _He was back at the house. That creepy one in the middle of nowhere with the knives in the kitchen wall, except the place looked a little cleaner somehow? The steps still creaked as he walked up to the door but the windows were no longer broken and it looked like someone had swept the porch recently. He tried the knob and found that it opened when he turned it, allowing him access into the familiar place._

" _Naruto! You came back!" A small child like shadow bounded into the foyer to tackle the blond._

" _Of course I did. We're friends now." He looked around and noticed the tv had been repaired, the sofa was no longer dirty and the table replaced. "Looks like you've been cleaning up the place."_

" _Nah, that's you. I just help to make sure the stuff you fix doesn't get broken again." The small boy shrugged._

" _Uh, what?"_

" _C'mon, let me show you my room!"_

 _Naruto was ushered up to the second floor by the excited little demon. "There's stairs now?"_

" _Yeah! Isn't it great! Look this is my room, I hoped you were coming so I cleaned it up. See?!"_

 _Blue eyes peered into see the room, haphazardly cleaned but that indeed of a child. Books and stuffed toys on shelves, crayons and coloring pages shoved into the closet along with dirty laundry that had probably been strewn across the floor until a while ago. "I like it."_

 _The little one peered up in a large smile at the comment. "Thank you for letting me out and giving me a room. I like it a lot better than the basement."_

" _Oh that's right, you were locked up in the basement for a long time weren't you? I'm sorry it took so long for me to realize you were there."_

" _That's ok. Nobody ever tried to be my friend before so I'm glad it was you. You're really nice."_

 _Naruto glanced down the hallway to a room at the end, it was dark and door was shut, obviously off limits. "Hey, who's room is that down there?"_

" _Oh, that's your room." the child was busy shuffling through a bucket of toys as he spoke._

" _Mine?" Naruto sort of had a slight idea of what was going on now, things began to fall into place. As he watched the little child find the toy he was looking for._

" _Yeah, but we can't go in there yet." It pulled out a stuffed fox and walked over to hand it to the half breed._

 _He took the toy and knelt down, "Who's house is this, Kyuubi?"_

" _Yours"_

Naruto jumped out of bed, clutching at his chest and rapidly feeling his face with frantic hands. "Gaara!" The halfbreed ran from the room at full speed, "Gaara!"

"Naruto, what's wrong?!" The redhead nearly crashed into him.

"I'm alive right? I didn't die again?" Tan fingers were pressed against the side of his own neck, double checking for a pulse.

"Naruto, what happened? Why are you asking that?"

"I-... I think when I died, I may have broken the seal."

XX_XX

"He did what?!" Sasuke spat out

It took everything in Itachi to not violently smash his head through the office window and allow himself to plummet fifty feet to the ground below. He understood everyone's frustrations, really he did but he had to at least give off the illusion that he was keeping it together.

"Let's stay calm." He watched the younger Uchiha huff into the leather sofa and scowl. "I am hoping there is a good reason he purposely broke it?"

Pride watched the redhead look away momentarily and open his mouth a few times before simply shutting it, shrugging and shaking his head.

"Well then I am hoping the Order is unaware of it at least. Has he shown any kind of drastic change?"

"I'm pretty certain they don't suspect anything. Not much has changed. There are sometimes when I catch him a little off but that's usually right after he wakes up in the mornings. Aside from that he's pretty much back to himself." Wrath thought for a moment before he continued, "He actually seems to be getting better if anything. He's remembering to eat on his own now and a lot more confident in himself. I'm unsure if that has anything to do with the seal breaking however."

"Did he say why he broke the seal?" The younger Uchiha asked.

Gaara frowned in return, "He's having a hard time remembering much of what happened during his transcendence. So far all he's managed to figure out is that it was a blood seal and he broke it. He says he also knows he has been having some dreams relating to the Kyuubi as well but those are also unclear."

"What about Minato?"

"He knows and is keeping a close eye on him. It's all we can really do at this point." Wrath sighed somewhat defeated.

Itachi folded his hands and leaned back in his chair. "Very well, keep me updated. I think it is time to inform Kakashi of a potential takeover by the Order however. It'll give us time to prepare a strategy and we will soon need to inform the rest of the seven. My contact tells me the Order has been unusually quiet as of late. I'm betting they are getting impatient with laying low, They may no longer wish to wait for the Kyuubi to be released."

Gaara nodded, "Most likely. Shizune hasn't heard anything on the mortal realm either, but she says the spirits are buzzing more than ever. They are anxious. Whatever is going to happen, is going to happen soon."

"My question is if the seal is broken, why hasn't the Kyuubi emerged? Shouldn't there be some kind of chaotic panic that comes with it being set free?" The younger Uchiha thought out loud.

"That is the question indeed, little brother." Itachi leaned back into his chair as he mulled it over. What exactly was happening?

XX_XX

 _He was here again. Walking up steps and entering the house that seemed to look cleaner and cleaner every night that he came. He walked in and noticed the dining table was set this time, with unbroken china and a matching set of sturdy chairs. He took a seat as a familiar demon entered the room._

" _You grow so much every time I visit."_

" _Time works different here." Kyuubi simply laughed and sat across the blond, pouring him a cup of tea._

 _Naruto picked up the delicate teacup and ran his fingers across the pattern. "This is a nice set."_

" _Yeah, I'm glad you fixed it." The demon had stretched, his feet just about touched the ground as he sat now and his voice was getting deeper._

" _You keep saying that I'm fixing things, but I don't really understand how I'm doing it."_

 _The demon shrugged and sipped his tea, offering no response to his question. "I changed my room again. Wanna see it?"_

" _Sure." He set his tea down and frowned as he noticed the knived still lodged into the kitchen wall as he passed on his way up the demons room._

" _It's much cooler now." The shadow figure led his friend into the familiar area, now covered in posters, figurines and sports equipment. Naruto noticed he didn't bother to clean the piles of dirty laundry on the floor this time. Truly the space of an adolescent youth._

" _Yeah, it's pretty cool. You like video games? Me too." He pointed at a familiar poster._

" _Yeah! Wanna play?"_

 _Naruto nodded and the shadow excitedly ran back down to setup the tv. He took a slight glanced at the door at the end of the hall on his way down the stairs. "Hey, when can I see my room?"_

 _The Kyuubi turned back and shook his head side to side, "Not until the kitchen is fixed."_

" _How do I fix the kitchen?"_

" _That one is gonna be really hard. I think you might need some help."_

" _Help?"_

" _Yeah, but don't worry. I'm almost ready to help you so just be patient. We'll fix it soon."_

 _Naruto furrowed his brow in confusion, bits and pieces were becoming clear with each of his visits but there was still so much he did not understand. He knew after he woke up all of this would be a hazy blur so this was the only place he could try to piece together what he could. He was tugged to sit down and a controller was shoved into his hand as a familiar fighting game lit up across the screen. His hands gripped the smooth plastic firmly, he hadn't played video games in a long while._

 _Kiba had this same console back in high school. He felt that heaviness in his chest press into him at the thought of his best friend. He remembered being told his sister saved up for a year to buy it for his birthday. He remembered playing games in his room after school and on weekends and holidays, any time really. He remembered he was never that good but it proved to be a great distraction, a perfect excuse so he wouldn't have to spend excess time with whatever family had the misfortune of fostering him at the moment. Blue eyes glanced over at the demon who was choosing a character to play as. It looked calm, content, safe. His posture relaxed, he remembered always feeling so close to the edge for that part of his life. Always bitter and angry, always afraid, always on the run from something, always ready to be displaced. That was all in the past._

 _Naruto smiled to himself as he realized, he was safe in a way he hadn't felt in a long time._

 _XX_XX_

He had finally done it. He called Kiba. He sat in a library hovering over the public phones and clutched onto the hunk of faded plastic receiver still in his hand, dial tone buzzing faintly as he thought about the conversation.

Something had been bothering him ever since he woke up and he decided it was time to deal with it. He had to. The call went better than expected, but to be honest Naruto was betting on getting hung up on the minute he said hello so the fact that he got more than a greeting out was a win for him. Tenten had answered and kept up most of the talking since Kiba had stepped out to grab some groceries and forgot his phone. She expressed that she appreciated him calling, Kiba was a little sour still at the mention of his name but it was all show.

" _Oh, you know how he is. He misses you but he does understand why you had to leave. He knows you were just protecting us he's just being drama queen whenever he's reminded of you because he's worried about you, that's all."_

They had gotten engaged and moved into a smaller apartment after she got a promotion at work. Kiba was back in school apparently. Naruto had smiled at that. They were doing good.

" _How are things with you?"_

Silence.

Naruto purposely didn't tell them everything. I mean, if he were to say he was really the son of a demon and had to leave to participate in a death competition so he can take over his boyfriends job and make sure proper balance is kept in influencing the souls of man and so far he'd nearly been drowned, killed, mauled by demon dogs and oh yeah he actually died, they'd probably not be as understanding.

"I'm hanging in there." the blond finally managed.

" _I know you can't say much about what you're doing but don't be a stranger if you can help it. He'll never admit it but I know Kiba will be happy to hear from you."_ She comforted his doubts with those words.

"Yeah, I miss you guys."

" _We miss you too. Things are different without you here, but I'm glad you took the chance to help your dad. I think Kiba was a little jealous of that. That he was never able to have that chance to help either of his parents. I think you did the right thing in taking a first step to mend that relationship, even if you were kind of forced into it and it sounds shady as hell."_

Naruto laughed, "That's an understatement. It's better though, my dad and I have worked through a lot of things and I've worked through a lot of personal stuff on my own, so even though it's dangerous I'm glad for it too."

" _Ah, Kiba's at the door. Let me pass you to him. Take care, ok?"_ She said softly.

"Yeah, thanks Ten."

It was a moment before someone was on the line again, " _Hello?"_

"Hey Kiba."

Naruto was waiting for a string of swear words or the beeping of the call being ended but instead he heard a low grumbling and an exchange of harsh hushed voices before a strained response.

" _Oh, so now he fucking calls. What the hell do you want, you damn asshole."_

He rolled his eyes and smiled to himself, typical Kiba. Maybe a year ago he would have argued back, maybe. "Just wanted to make sure you're still breathing."

A slight pause followed that before the response, " _Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright. You?"_

The anger fell away and Kiba just sounded so fucking tired. Naruto related to that on a spiritual level. "Yeah, I'm ok. Congrats on your engagement. Took you long enough."

Kiba snorted, " _That ring was fucking expensive. You know how many twelve hour shifts I had to work to save up enough for it?"_

"Yeah, yeah. Seriously though, I'm happy for you guys."

" _Thanks."_ He mumbled a bit, almost like he was deciding if he should continue _. "How's your old man?"_ There was a little bit of resentment in that statement.

"He's ok. It's a little rough sometimes but we're both trying."

His friend gave an acknowledged grunt.

Naruto inhaled and spoke again "Kiba, I wanted to apologize to you. I guess it's something I've been afraid of dealing with and fighting but leaving made me feel so guilty." The blond took the lack of interruption and profanity as a sign to continue. "I wanted to keep you guys safe because I'd be heartbroken if anything were to happen to the both of you, but I still felt like shit anyways. I didn't want to admit that maybe I hurt you but I know leaving you hurt me a lot. So I'm sorry for that."

" _Um, yeah. Yeah, ok…."_ Kiba sounded like he had a lump in his throat and was thinking hard, Naruto could hear the gears in his brain creaking through the phone. Finally he heard a clearing of a throat and his friend spoke again, " _Can you put Naruto back on the line now? I don't know who this person talking about feelings is."_

"You fucking dick." The half breed deadpanned.

Kiba chuckled lightly, " _Thanks for calling, Naruto. I hope we get to see you soon?"_

"Yeah, that would be nice."

Naruto didn't really want tomorrow to come, especially not when the present was so enjoyable. He buried his face into the body next to him and shut his eyes tight. Hands reached out to him, strong and gentle, caressing his side and pulling him closer. It was one of the few mornings that Gaara had allowed them to sleep in. Admittedly Gaara had begun to be significantly more affectionate with him these past few weeks than before. Simple touches were becoming regular and small innocent kisses pressed to his hands or head or the like, and well, Naruto wasn't really complaining. It felt nice and warm and exactly like his every craving for physical affection that his touch starved self had been denied since he was ten was being satiated. He knew somewhere deep down that his abandoned inner child was living for the abundant hugs and simple kisses pressed to the top of his head at the current moment and for once in his life he wasn't afraid of whatever the future held. He simply was. Just existing in the moment, nothing but the sounds of their steady breathing, etching every detail about the present into his mind.

"Naruto" Gaara's voice sounded from next to him, soft but determined.

"Yeah?"

"I love you too."

XX_XX

 _They sat on the porch, feet swinging over the ledge absently. The wooden floor no longer creaked and the grass was now green and had been freshly cut. It had proper curb appeal for being in the middle of nowhere at least. The house looked well restored and inviting now, a fresh coat of paint on the front door making it an orange beacon in the vast emptiness of what Naruto now understood to be his subconscious._

 _The demon was about the size of Naruto now, it's voice was that of a grown man._

" _You are healed enough that you are going to start to remember all this from now on. It'll come back to you later on after you return to your physical plane"_

" _Oh. I guess that's good. I kinda felt bad for not being able to remember much of this and worrying everyone."_

 _Kyuubi bobbed it's head in understanding. "It's a process, you'll always have work to do but I'm here and ready to help you now."_

" _Help fix the kitchen?"_

" _Yes. Let me know when you want to do it. Just call for my help and I'll be there."_

 _Naruto nodded, although not really sure if he completely understood what he meant by that. The demon was smiling now, a fond kind of look on its face._

" _You look happy," Naruto mused._

" _I am. For the first time in my existence I am going to help fix something instead of just destroying it. Thank you for believing in me."_

 _XX_XX_

Sasuke's boots kicked up the dust as he walked in the blinding, overbearing heat of the sun. A pilgrimage of abdication is what Wrath had said as the task was being explained to the group, although Sasuke had no clarification what he was renouncing exactly he had a pretty good idea of what was going to take place. Sasuke managed to figure out the first three tasks were testing their physical skills mostly and the next three were basically a big mind fuck. He was right, this was a more private task like the previous one had been, an individual test, yet this time they would take the challenge one by one. None of it was to be publicly broadcasted, the reaper judging panel and the mentors were the only ones watching him wander in the scorching wasteland. After about a mile or so of walking he caught glimpse of it, just in the distance, a massive stone temple nestled in the valley below. Large limestone pillars defined the entryway to the sacred shrine that was hidden away in the middle of this desolate desert.

He picked up the torch from the entrance, easily lighting it without the need for an incantation and watched the scorpions scatter from the sudden intrusion of light and heat. They scampered to the shadows, black bodies glittering as the fire danced around the stone passageway. The Uchiha never faltered in swiftly yet cautiously moving forward, alert and sensing for whatever he was sure he'd have to face in this ancient place. He reached the inner sanctuary and looked around the circular room. Sunlight faintly spilled in through the small skylight in the middle, just enough to illuminate the area without the need for a torch. He approached the altar in the center, studying the latin carved into a reflective surface set on top of the stone,' _Nihil Timendum Est.'_

A sudden cold feeling washed over him as he looked into the ancient mirror and the raven unsheathed his sword in a flash. The small alcove at the far end of the room drew his attention as he sensed a presence in that direction.

"I am going to enjoy every minute of this." Sasuke smirked as he dragged the tip of his katana along the stone floor when he easily recognized the figure that emerged from the shadows.

Madara Uchiha stood glaring across the room at the young half breed, his eyes burning red with rage and contempt. Sasuke merely rose a brow at his elders voice, unphased and amused at what was being said.

"You are a blight to the Uchiha name. Weak and insolent children of mine don't deserve to wear the Wrath crest."

Sasuke shrugged casually, already used to the statements of abuse from his great great grandfather. "Well maybe if you weren't such a piece of shit elder, I'd actually listen to what you have to say."

Madara charged forward, intent to kill written all over his scowling face. "You are a mistake. A plague to your family, a burden to your brother. You always fall short and miss the mark. You don't have what it takes."

The younger Uchiha dodged the first series of attacks quickly moving back out of range and carefully blocking blows. "Maybe, but at least I'm not lonely anymore. I feel sorry for you Madara, for all your power you have no one, not a single friend. You've isolated yourself and nothing will ever be enough to fill that pitiful void in your life."

He managed to land a powerful kick that sent the old man flying into the stone wall violently. He slowly moved, rolling slightly on the floor among the debri. Sasuke furrowed his brow when it got back up and was no longer Madara but his own father. What was he fighting exactly?

"Sasuke, you are such a disgrace. Why can't you be more like your brother?" His father grunted out as they began to struggle again. The halfbreed felt the wind get knocked out of him as his father landed a strong blow to his stomach. He stumbled back, gasping for air.

"All you do is cry and disappoint me. Itachi is too soft on you, you need to learn more discipline. You won't even give our family heirs. I can't even bear to look at you without being disgusted." There was a kick to Sasuke's head with those words that sent him down to the floor in pain.

Emotions welled in the younger man's chest much like it had many years ago when his father would tell him those things on a daily basis. He shook his thoughts quickly remembering he was no longer that person and found his sword as the figure approached him. Sasuke thrusted his blade through his opponents chest, lightning screeching when it bounced off the walls in all directions as the halfbreed charged his weapon with it to ensure a fatal hit.

"You don't own me anymore." Sasuke laughed in the demons ear feeling the weight of the figure slump against him.

"Otōto?"

Pale hands froze as a new voice responded in a whisper. The lightning ceased as the half breed forced himself to slowly pull away. He knew that voice, his mind trying to process what was happening. Sasuke stood back to meet the eyes of his older brother, confused and hurt. Itachi grasped at the handle of the katana that ran through his chest, blood pouring from the wound.

"Itachi?" a hoarse whisper came from the half breed and a panicked sob caught in his throat.

The taller figure dropped to his knees as he coughed up crimson and stained the sacred floor of the ancient temple. "Why? All I ever did was try to protect you."

"No, I didn't- It was- Itachi I would never!" Sasuke gripped the handle of his weapon and slowly began to extract it as if it would take back the fact that he brutally injured his own brother.

"Madara was right, my love for you is a weakness. I will die protecting you and it will be all your fault. I was a fool to believe in you. No matter what you do, you will never be loved or accepted as you are. You will never be loved by me." The demon spat, hatred lacing his words.

Was this what is was to have your heart shattered into pieces? It must have been. Sasuke's shaking hands betrayed him as his throat went dry and he momentarily lost his voice. He tried to swallow down the feeling of his lungs wanting to burst out of his chest.

Itachi hated him.

Sasuke felt himself slowly begin to implode and tears welled up, threatening to spill over. His elder brother hated him. The only person who ever really mattered to Sasuke hated him. Had Itachi always hated him, or was this action of betrayal making him realize it? He tried to think back to when they were kids, had his brother really hated him all that time? Had Itachi agreed with what Madara and their father said about him? Did he look down on Sasuke the same way the rest of the family did? Had he always?

A forgotten memory broke the surface as the Uchiha recalled something that had been said by Itachi decades ago. Sasuke's steel eyes caught his brothers red ones for a moment before he understood and responded. "I see. Fear is a lie, lies are nothing and nothing is worth being afraid of."

The sword flew forward again spearing through the demons throat. An unearthly shriek sounded as the image of Itachi faded away and a dark menacing spirit thrashed about in pain. It fell lifeless for a few moments before slowly disappearing back into the shadows and darkness, letting the blade fall to the floor with a clatter. The Uchiha collected his weapon in silence and made his way back to the temple entrance.

XX_XX

Naruto waited patiently for his turn, especially not in any hurry after how everyone seemed to be coming back looking like they had all seen things that would haunt them in their sleep at night for years to come. All of them, every single one, came back looking like they were on the verge of an emotional breakdown.

Sasuke had the highest score so he had gone first and Naruto hoped to ask him about the challenge but his friend had come back looking so absolutely broken, nobody said a word. Everyone just stared as he came into the room with a hollow look in his eyes. The blond knew he was trying so hard to not fall apart, but all the competitors were far too stunned at what could have possibly shaken the usually stoic and cold Uchiha to make a noise. Itachi quickly entered and every jaw in the room hit the floor as Sasuke instantly hugged his brother tightly, not wanting to let go as Pride ushered him out of the room, away from prying eyes in hushed tones.

The blond fidgeted with his necklace, he was next. Sai came back looking shaken, lost and upset, not sparing a single glance at Naruto as he left the room quickly. He was called into the portal and forced his feet to step through into the dry and dusty desert and just like that he was alone. He took a small grounding breath and began walking aimlessly, unsure of where to go. The sun was sweltering and heavy on his uncovered head. He needed to find some shelter from the heat soon. A few minutes passed before the building caught his eye and a churning in his stomach began. He had a very bad feeling about that place.

"Fuck" Naruto muttered as he stood staring at it, trying to decide if he should keep wandering or head towards the temple.

His feet finally approached the tall stone pillars and he begrudgingly entered, fumbling down the dark hallways until he reached the large inner chamber with the stone altar in the middle. Naruto read the latin script written on the mirror, trying hard to understand it with the bit that Gaara had made him study. He roughly managed to translate it to something about fear or something like that, at least he hoped that was the gist of it. His blue eyes gazed back at him momentarily before his body seized up on its own accord.

There was absolutely no way this was happening. This couldn't be real. His breathing became elevated and he felt his head begin to spin as it tried to make sense of how this could possibly be going on. A deep chuckle had sounded out from the far end of the temple and Naruto recognized it immediately. His body reacted on its own, chest tight and filled with dread as his hands shook and every hair on his body stood on end.

"I think you'll be the most fun." The man stepped out of the shadows with a wild smirk twisting his face.

Naruto's feet didn't respond as the figure continued to approach him. The halfbreed was frozen on the spot despite his brain screaming at him to move, to defend himself, to do absolutely anything but stand there like an idiot. The familiar smell of cologne hit his nose and his stomach threatened to empty all of its contents there on the sacred floor. He involuntarily doubled over and dry heaved, the sound of him retching echoed off the walls. He urged his body to stop, to get back up, to regain some control of the situation before him. This was not happening to him again, not this time. His mind was repeating it over and over again like a prayer, a mantra, a declaration of truth he desperately was trying to cling to.

"So easy. Then again you were always easy to get riled up. You always did put up a good fight." The raspy breath was warm across his ear and smelled of alcohol, like it always did.

"This isn't real, you're not real!" Naruto shouted, fighting so hard to break his involuntary shock and a fist collided with a hard jaw.

It wasn't full force, his body still denied to cooperate properly and the man simply laughed as he massaged the side of his face. "There it is. Put up a good struggle for me, just like you used to."

The blond was tackled to the floor, thoughts reeling and heavy breathing as he fought against his mind knowing this was a lie and his body reacting to his past trauma. The man was strong, he was always so strong. No matter how much Naruto fought he was always overpowered by him. His hands were pinned above his head as his feet dangerously kicked out, trying to aim for any exposed areas as he felt the familiar weight settle on top of his lap.

"GET OFF ME!" His voice was hoarse and cracked but loud as it rang out. Naruto spat at the man in disgust.

The deafening sound of a belt buckle fidgeting around and a zipper being pulled down was a crushing weight in the blonds chest. "That's it, squirm around and scream your heart out. No one will come to save you, little boy. No one cares about you, they all left you, they will always leave you."

Broken sobs fell from Naruto's mouth without permission, he hated his body for betraying him like this. He hated it for acting so weak, for reacting like he was still twelve years old, for not being stronger, for letting this man get under his skin again. He kept shouting in protest, more to drown out the sense of what was happening than anything else and because his body was not listening to him like he wanted it to. He shut his eyes and fought that stupid urge to just find a happy place and just wait for it to be over. He couldn't let this happen to him, he was stronger than this. Why was this happening to him again? What did he do to deserve this again?

" _Naruto"_ A voice called from the back of his mind.

He knew that voice, it was a friend. It took a moment before he remembered it, he remembered everything.

" _Kyuubi!"_ The blond desperately shouted out internally.

" _I'm here if you need me."_

" _Yes. Yes, please help me!"_

" _Just remember Naruto, I can't do this for you. You have to be the one to do it. I am here to support you if you need."_ The voice in the back of his head advised.

" _Ok… ok. I can do this."_ Naruto mentally encouraged himself.

" _You can."_

Naruto opened his eyes glaring at the figure on top of him. He felt the rage and revulsion course through his entire being. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to make this man who caused him so much pain suffer, to make this man burn in the lowest circle of hell. The half breed was practically shaking in anger.

"What the fuck?" Hands abruptly left Naruto's skin as the figure hissed back in pain, badly burnt from the contact.

"I SAID GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" Naruto took control of his body again and used his freed hand to land strong punch this time, making sure to send his assaulter flying back away from him.

The blond scrambled back to his feet, hastily fixing his clothes. His skin was on fire and his heart was surging as he watched the man take a new face in place of the old one. It was a woman this time, Naruto knew her too. She growled as they circled each other slowly.

"You worthless piece of shit. You're mother hated you so much she probably died on purpose just to be rid of you. Now I have to take care of a useless, good for nothing brat. I'll beat you and lock you in the closet again for getting in my way!" She screeched out as she jumped forward scratching at the blond.

Naruto's face twisted in rage, "SHUT UP!"

He landed a kick that threw her into the stone table with a crushing impact, lightly cracking the glass. It was a moment before the woman wobbled it panicked over the reflective surface momentarily but then she stood again and once more took a new form. Familiar brown eyes glared at the half breed harshly.

"This is why they all hate you. Because you did the same thing to me that they all did to you. You left. You abandoned me. You're no better than they are, you're just like them."

The blond shouted out as he rushed forward, flames now emerging from his body responding to his level of fury. "YOU'RE NOT KIBA! YOU'RE NOT REAL!"

Except Naruto did leave him, and Kiba did feel that way. Maybe it was right? Angry tears fell down his face as the continued to attack each other but a morsel of doubt had found its way into his mind. What if this thing wasn't lying to him? What if Naruto really had become just like those who had abandoned him. Had he really turned into the very thing he hated?

" _Focus Naruto."_

Kyubbi's voice brought him back to the present just in time to take a knee to the stomach. He was thrown back with the force as another kick landed in his side and he crashed into the wall. Naruto desperately scrambled to his feet and was able to dodge a punch, landing a perfect uppercut. The monster glared at him with piercing emerald eyes from where it had fallen. It groaned as it shifted again, coughing up a black substance in the process.

Crimson hair and pale skin approached and sneered "How could I ever love someone as pathetic and broken as you?"

Naruto's heart had fallen into the pit of his stomach. He felt a new wave of panic try and overtake his head as those words spilled from Gaara's mouth. That couldn't be right? It had to be a lie. The blond fell backwards in his attempt to put distance between the man who held so much hate in his eyes. He shook his head violently, trying to grasp onto what was being said.

" _Remember your truth."_

Truth? How was he to know if Gaara didn't actually feel that way about him? Was he just a useless and unlovable person? No, no that wasn't right. Something nudged at him inside, a little light flickering to life. He knew that these things being said were a lie. It had taken him so painstakingly long to believe he was someone worthy of love and this asshole was trying to undo it. That knowledge made Naruto absolutely livid. It was like gasoline to his fire. How dare they. How dare they feed him lies and try to make him doubt himself. How dare they try to tear him down like they once did before. His fists clenched at his side and he bared his teeth in a wild snarl. He would make this liar pay. He would make sure it could never try to hurt him or anyone else ever again.

Naruto lunged at it, wrestling with the monster on the temple floor. He succeeded in pinning it down and grabbing for its neck, attempting to choke the life out of it before it could say anything else. The skin seared with the half breeds burning touch and it struggled underneath the blonde. A new face made him loosen his hold however, slightly taken aback.

"I'm glad I died. You are such a disappointment. Your father was right to leave and I'm thankful I was able to be rid of you." the voice was snide and mocking.

There was a sick sound of laughter echoing off the ancient walls. Fresh hot tears trailed down his face with anger. "You've got a lot of nerve to take that form and lie to me like that with her voice."

There was a single minute of silence before blue eyes were replaced with red and a rushing wind surrounded them both. This floodgate of power was let loose and Naruto was just along for the ride, as he lifted both hands above him and sent them crashing down into his target below. The force smashed through the creature's chest and well into the floor deep enough to leave a massive crater. The swelling emotion was suffocating for the halfbreed, he felt this immense power slipping through his fingers. He had to get back in control, he could not let himself be lost in the Kyubbi's power. He pulled himself back, the surge of energy dying down as he came back to his senses. He looked down at his hands that were still plunged into the fake vessel of the monster. The dark shadow left its physical form in attempt to flee but the blond held onto it as the black inky blood dripped from his hands. He felt the power in his hands try to wriggle free and Naruto tightened his grip.

"What the fuck are you?" The halfbreed stared at the shadow trapped between his fingers.

It hissed in protest as it desperately tried to crawl back to the altar. The blond looked up noticing the shattered looking glass scattered about the crumbling stone table. The force of his attack had nearly destroyed the place, he was amazed the inky beast was still squirming. The creature was trying to return to whatever bit of glass was left, this monster was from the mirror. Naruto released it feeling his wrath leave him now that he was no longer antagonized by the terrors of his heart. It melded into the glass, disappearing from sight.

He thought back at how the others had returned from this challenge looking so devastated, Sasuke especially had looked so broken. What kinds of things had they seen? What things did they have to relive? They all faced hurtful lies. But maybe that wasn't all there was, maybe they also faced some truths. Shameful parts of their pasts, concealed parts of themselves. He stood and walked over to stare into the abysmal pitiful remains of the antique mirror. He wasn't surprised when the surface blacked out and only a pair of dark, empty eyes stared out at him.

It spoke in his own voice, "You may be able to get rid of me but your darkest fears are still there, always hidden away in your heart. Nothing you do can change that. Everything you hate about yourself is always with you."

There was silence at that statement. Naruto knew this time it was telling the truth. Everything he had struggled with, feared and hated for so long was a part of who he was. It was bitter and dark and shoved away. He realized this demon was nothing more than a dark reflection of all the things that lie hidden within him.

"I accept that."

The reflection blinked at him in surprise, obviously unsure of how to respond to that.

Naruto continued, "I accept it. Even though you are everything I'm ashamed of and you hurt so much, you are still a part if me. My darkest parts came from a place of hatred but if I keep on hating them, I keep on hating a part of myself and I don't think that is going to fix anything. So I'm not going to do that anymore."

Naruto stood up in resolve and turned around, climbing out of the temple through the bits of rubble back out into the desert. It was a few minutes of stumbling before he finally collapsed, drained physically and mentally and the tears seemed to have no end. Sand stuck to his face as he tried so hard to will his body to at least crawl but that fight had taken so much out of him and the Kyubbi's power required so much control he had no strength to move. He closed his eyes for a minute, just listening to the wind howling and blowing the dunes into shape, grains shifting over the hills.

" _Kyuubi"_

" _Yes?"_

" _Thank you for helping me."_ His voice echoed into his mind, a bit hazy and distorted as exhaustion was pulling heavily on him.

" _That's what friends are for."_

He felt a hand on his arm, fingers at his neck and a familiar scent enveloped him. Naruto released the last bit of tension as he was helped up into a seated position. He fought to open his eyes, to see Gaara's face and let him know he was ok. He couldn't and felt his limp body be lifted up and carried off and he knew he was losing grasp on his conscious awareness. The last thing he remembered was hearing Gaara's low voice whispering some varying words of support over and over again.


End file.
